I'm Home
by AvalonBay
Summary: [Second in Powerless series]. Trini's parents hit her with the bombshell that she is to have an arranged marriage; too bad her husband-to-be hits her.
1. Chapter 1

**I'm Home**

 **Summary – Trini's parents hit her with the bombshell that she is to have an arranged marriage; too bad her husband-to-be hits her. **

* * *

Trini Kwan was having an amazing day.

But the funny thing was, it really was just ordinary. She got up in the morning and went through her normal routine; doing a set of her tai chi mediations then breaking into practicing her praying mantis kung fu style for a few hours. One hour each. She had to get up early for that. Then she had breakfast, a Vietnamese delicacy of Pho, which was also her favorite Vietnamese dish that her parents could make. Especially as they made it from scratch nearly every day and she never got tired of it.

Then she brushed her teeth and took a long shower, long only because of how long her hair was and how time consuming it was to adequately wash it. Then she'd dry it and wrap it up in a towel while she carefully put on her makeup. Then she'd take the time to pick out her clothes. That was the part that took the longest; not because she had too much to choose from, that was the understatement of the year. She had plenty of yellow in her wardrobe that she could switch around with whites, yellows, and grays and it wasn't a big deal. No, the hardest part was deciding what to wear for her parents.

Both were from Vietnam and both were very conservative. Even though they'd lived in other cities of California before ultimately settling in on Angel Grove, it was hard for them to completely get into the culture that America had to bring. Everyone around wasn't as conservative, being more open and liberal with their way of speaking and dress. There were many times that Trini was a few steps out of the door before her mother was sending her back inside to change.

At first Trini did it without question. She didn't want to upset her parents in any way. Afterwards, she continued to dress the way she wanted…after changing at school. Long sleeved shirts and pants were slowly but surely changed into crop tops and other low-cut tops, sleeveless shirts, and shorts, when she felt like it. Of course, Kimberly was one of the ones who taught her how to dress until Trini eventually figured out the way she truly wanted to be seen. On her own terms.

And it had thrown her parents for a loop. Trini remembered they had spoken sternly to her about it. But as time went on they stepped back and let her dress for herself, letting her make her own decisions. It was enough of a chance that every day when Trini dressed herself she kept her parents in mind. She wanted to make her own decisions, not to completely alienate her parents. (Also, why she decided to speak almost completely in Vietnamese to her parents when she was home). And, yes, figuring out how much yellow she could work into her wardrobe before having to go back to the store to get some more was a bit of an issue.

The normal went along smoothly.

Then she went to school, after getting picked up by Jason Lee Scott, her oldest friend and, honestly, the one she was probably the closest to out of her friends. For a variety of reasons, really, not just because he was the first leader of the Power Rangers and helped her realize her full potential to be a hero for the citizens of Angel Grove. For a lot of reasons; they were both the quietest of their group of friends, they both enjoyed the studies of martial arts and meditation and how it continued to make their bodies stronger, they were both pacifists preferring to finish things peacefully before going into the physicality of things, and they both tended to go to each other for guidance when needed.

Once arriving at school, she and Jason immediately met up with the rest of their friends as they did every morning. Tommy Oliver, the new kid who had taken over as the leader of the power rangers and did it with as much grace and dignity that Jason had before, Kimberly Hart, the aptly named heart of the team who had the most compassion for everyone around them, Zack Taylor, the fun-loving always dancing guy who was good for a laugh and a smile, Billy Cranston, the brain of the group who continued to surprise her with his smarts and understanding of science, math, and engineering as he continued to create and develop their power ranger weapons and zords all the while continuing to slowly allow himself to open up to people the same way, and Avalon Mitchell, the new kid from Australia whose powerful moves as a ranger was equally as powerful in her personality and quick wit with her protection of her friends and family.

Bulk and Skull showed up at some point to taunt them a little as well as to give their update on their quest to figure out who the power rangers were. Of course. they teased them about it a little, it was actually a little fun to see how close they were to having their identities revealed to those around them. If Trini were completely honest, she thought some of their teachers and parents might have some idea of it. They couldn't ignore the bruises, bumps, and scrapes from their training and fighting against the putties and monsters that were sent down every day. There had even been a few points where they ended up falling asleep in class, to which they gave lame excuses in response.

The rest of the day continued to move normally as well; she went from class to class, receiving good grades from test and papers handed back and enjoying the news things they were taught. Then going to her numerous club and association meetings—of late being the Mentor Committee that worked hard to help other students in the school have someone to talk to and help—and, like clockwork, there was a ranger battle they all had to go to.

One minute she was talking about a fundraising venture they were going to be going on, the next she was in the park, facing down the putties that swarmed around her and her friends doing whatever it was that Rita and Zedd had sent upon them that time. And like all the other fights they moved the same way; fighting the putties pre-morphed, then Goldar and the monster of the day would come up, forcing them to morph to fight. Then the monster would grow and they'd have to call upon their zords, take the monster down, and get a last-minute pep talk from Zordon before going back to do things all over again.

Done and done.

Same old, same old.

And days like that were always amazing for Trini because she had something to smile about. Something to look forward to, even if ranger duties held things up a little bit. She was always smiling.

That day had been just like the others.

Jason had dropped her off at her house after the latest ranger battle so she could get some homework done. She was smiling as much as she did every other day, it growing wider and wider as she went up the steps to her house. Seeing her mother and father, relaying her day to them and hearing about their day as well was something they had started when she was very young. It was a good way for them to continue to get to know each other as people rather than as parent and child.

And she held that smile on her face as she went through the front door, the tale of her day on her lips—minus the rangeing of course.

But Trini's smile immediately faded, her day immediately crumbled to disappointment when she stepped through the door and heard her mother say the words, "Trini, great news! We found you a husband!"

* * *

 **A/N:** I was originally going to do Kim's story next, but I got really into Trini's head with _Powerless_ and loved it so I started up with this one. I hope you enjoy it just as much. I will also be finishing up _In Too Deep,_ which will then be re-written as Billy's story under the _Powerless_ series.

 **~Av**


	2. Chapter 2

"What?"

The word barely escaped Trini's mouth before her mother grabbed her arm, pulling her into the living room. Trini looked around, expecting to find this husband to be sitting on the couch with a pleasant smile. His parents flanking his sides, smiling like Stepford Wives as the nodded along to everything that was being said. Her mother spoke in rapid Vietnamese.

"I _said_ we found you a husband!" Mrs. Kwan gracefully lowered herself onto the couch and crossed her legs at the knee. She _never_ crossed them at the ankle. Mr. Kwan sat next to her, beaming with pride. Looking closely, it appeared that he may have been tearing up, too.

Trini didn't pay too much attention to it; her mind was already swirling. Everything around her was hot, she pulled at the collar of her shirt, hoping to relieve the sudden influx in temperature. Her ears roared. And…did her heart stop?

"You remember Khoa Nguyen, right" Mr. Kwan asked. He must've thought the stunned expression on Trini's face was of excitement. Not horror. Not disbelief. Not wondering how fast she could get out of there and get to her room before she passed out.

"Uh, the, uh," Trini stammered.

 _What?_

"Of course, you remember, Khoa! His family owns the most nail salons in Angel Grove. _And_ they have a restaurant. We eat there all the time."

Right, she remembered her mother pointing that out. Sort of. Wait, why did that name sound so familiar? Oh, _right._ "Isn't he the one who used to push me over into the sand and take my toys all the time?"

"Yes, that's him!" Mr. Kwan's smile widened even further. "I knew you'd remember him."

Mrs. Kwan waved her hand. "Such a terror as a little boy, but now he's grown up to be very nice and _very_ handsome. You'll really like him Trini." She noticed the sour expression on Trini's face and mistakenly thought it to be less than what she was really feeling. "Oh, don't look at us like that, Trini. He _has_ changed. He's excited to see you again. Or, in this case to meet you. It's been so long. We've invited them over for dinner."

"What?"

Now Mr. Kwan frowned and barked, "Don't be so rude!"

Trini quickly apologized. She let out a long sigh then sat up straight, rounding out her shoulders. Maybe now that she had her parent's attention, she could get the whole story. "I'm a little surprised. You sprung this upon me so…"

"Trini, we've been talking about this marriage since you were a little girl," Mrs. Kwan reminded her.

"Yes, mom, I remember but…" Trini took another deep breath. She clenched her hands into fists. Suddenly, she felt the need to reach out strike each of them in the face. Or a punching bag. Or a putty. She'd give anything for a putty or Goldar to show up right about then. "I never thought you were being serious."

"Of _course_ we were being serious. This is a big honor. It's great for both families as it is for our kids." Mrs. Kwan sat up straight almost as if a rod had been put into her back, when Trini leaned forward and rested her face in her hands. "You must sit up, dear. It's going to ruin your posture and you won't please your husband with bad posture."

Trini did as she was told, keeping her face blank. She tried not to let her disgust, frustration, and dismay show any further than it already had. She didn't want to disrespect her parents but…they were disrespecting her, weren't they? Yes, they'd spoken about it when she was younger, but it had been little comments here or there not ' _when_ you get married' not ' _when_ we find you a husband' but 'if'.

"Mom, you never really asked me about—"

"We should never have to ask," Mr. Kwan interrupted. "It should be something you're proud to do. Trini, this will ensure you a future."

"What about finding the person _I_ want to marry?" Trini asked.

Now Mr. Kwan's face screwed up, mimicking the air of disdain she held only moments before. "You can' believe such nonsense this American media has shown you. Trini, 'the one' does not exist. Nothing more than 'the one' that we can choose for you." He laughed at his own joke while Mrs. Kwan smiled and nodded.

"But…I know you say Khoa has grown up, but what if I don't like him?"

"You will learn to like him. Love is something that grows. There is no such thing as love at first sight. YOU have to work to make your relationship work, you can't expect to sit back and wait for everything to fall into place. We didn't raise you to be lazy. This is giving stability to both families."

"But—" Trini was cut off again.

"We've known the Nguyens for a long time, and we've worked together on this. Your in-laws will not turn their back on you. We will all get along and it will be good for our families. We know you two best, this really is the best decision for you." She raised a hand. "And think of the stability. Their family is very wealthy."

Now Trini understood. "This has to do with money? Not with what would make me happy with my husband?"

"Trini, Khoa _will_ make you happy!" Mr. Kwan ran his hands up and down the legs of his pants before resting his hand on her mother's knee. She smiled and placed her free hand on top of his. "Your mother and I are proof that arranged marriages can work."

Trini's eyes widened. This was news to her. "You told me you met while you were working together."

"Yes." Mrs. Kwan nodded. "I was working at his house when we met. He had recently gotten in trouble with his parents and had been instructed to clean alongside the rest of us."

Trini put her face in her hands. Shook her head. Took in calm, deep breaths. She moved her mind into a meditative state to stay calm. Maybe with meditation, focusing on the energies around her she could figure things out. Make them understand how wrong it was to take control of her life like this.

"What if you're wrong?" Trini finally asked. "And we don't get along? What if we get divorced."

"You won't get divorced, you'll make it work."

"What if there's someone else I want to marry?"

"We'd still have to approve." Mrs. Kwan blinked, her eyes lighting up. " _Is_ there someone else you want to marry?"

Trini stared. Her mother was missing the point. Comically, so. Couldn't she see there were other things that were of importance in getting married? Like their age? She knew the youngest those got married were in their early twenties, Trini was already seventeen, close to graduating. It wasn't much longer until she had to get ready for the ceremony. They'd have to move into their own home, figure out the business they'd be following, then, at some point, they'd all expect her to give birth the heir of their families' fortunes.

No.

She didn't want that at all.

But before she could get it out completely, to let them understand how much she didn't like the idea, the doorbell rang. Mrs. Kwan immediately switched to English as she trilled, "Oh, they're here!"

"We invited the Nguyens over to dinner," Mr. Kwan explained to Trini's stunned face. "To talk to them a little about what we expect of this. And so you could see Khoa again."

"I…what?" Trini twisted around in her seat, just in time for her mother to open the front door with a flourish. Vietnamese greetings flew back and forth for a few moments before the door closed once more and footsteps headed her way. The sound of each step propelling her closer and closer to her doom.

Still, Trini was curious to see what Khoa looked like. She leaned to the side and peered over her mother's shoulders as they approached and got her first look. He was very attractive, actually. Eyes that shone with kindness, long hair that spiked in the front in an American style—of which she was sure would have to be changed once they did get married—and dressed like any other teen she knew in a pair of jeans. The white button down thrown on top had to have a last-minute change, he rolled his shoulders often enough.

Khoa held an air of friendly confidence around him that immediately fell when he caught Trini's eye. A sheepish smile came to his face and he walked over and sat down next to her. He leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. "I see that you don't seem too pleased about this whole thing, either."

Relief churned through Trini like a tidal wave. "You, too?" She asked.

"We've been talking about this for as long as I could remember, I just never expected it to come so soon," Khoa explained. He reached up and pushed his hair back from his forehead. "There were a lot more things I wanted to do with my life before settling down and getting married. I mean, we're still in high school."

That wave ebbed a little. "So…you _like_ the idea of an arranged marriage?"

"My parents know me better than anyone. Who else would be the best to choose a wife for me?"

"What about you? Don't _you_ think you could choose your own wife?"

"For the rest of my life I'll continue to be leaning about myself. But my parents already know the man I am and the man I can become. I put a lot of trust in their choice for me." Khoa gave her a kind smile. "But I see that you're not completely entrusting with the idea. I don't blame you. If anything, I hope we can at least be friends through this whole thing and that you can learn to trust me."

Trini shook her head. Trust was a difficult thing to give to other people. As difficult as it was to receive. She didn't trust many people anymore, not since she became a ranger. It was harder to figure out the intentions of those around her, not knowing if they were being honest, or if they were working with Rita and Zedd in some way. She knew part of that was still because of Tommy's stint of being the green ranger. None of it was his fault, she knew that intuitively, but she had taken a hard hit from the revelation.

Now, it proved she couldn't trust her parents either. True, they thought this was for her own good, but what good was it when she couldn't make the decision for herself. It would've been another story if she had gone to them and said she wanted them to find her a husband and Khoa showed up. But no. She could tell from the way their parents were speaking they'd met up numerous times before to speak about it.

"Well, we should at least get to know each other a little, right?" Khoa asked. "To take the nerves off?"

"Right." Trini managed a small smile. None of this was his fault. She shouldn't punish him for it.

"Okay, first, I want to make sure you understand…I'm _really_ sorry for pushing you down and taking your toys all the time when we were kids." Trini started to laugh. "I wasn't sure if you would remember but—"

"—I remember," Trini said. "Yeah…you took one of my Hot Wheels."

"In my defense, you weren't playing with them right."

"They were little cars!"

"And you were burying them in the sand, not driving around with them." Khoa ran his hands over the legs of his jeans. "But I _am_ sorry. If I thought I had them somewhere, I'd bring them back to you."

"Don't worry about it, I managed to collect more Hot Wheels since then." Trini laughed again. She tucked her hair behind her ear. "So, what school do you go to?"

"I go to the Christian School across the city," Khoa explained. "You go to Angel Grove High, right?"

"How'd you know?"

"Oh, your school is in the paper for a lot of things," Khoa explained. "And my parents always tend to brag about your when your name is mentioned. Especially about this Mentorship program that you started there. They say it's genius."

"Really?" Trini glanced at Mr. and Mrs. Nguyen.

They spoke in rapid-fire Vietnamese with her parents. They didn't look so bad, a little older than her own parents were. Mrs. Nguyen wasn't as graceful as her mother, as it was she had taken in the American culture a little bit more. She wore a tank-top and work out shorts, a cap turned forward on her forehead while her husband was dressed in jeans, a belt, and a colorful top.

Her mother would've made a comment if her father tried to wear so many colors at once, but here she complemented Khoa's mother with ease.

"Oh yeah, my parents love you already," Khoa said. Then his cheeks reddened at the admission and he turned away from Trini, clearing his throat. "Uh, I guess I just admitted that we talk about you a lot. You didn't really know about this did you?"

"No. My parents sprung this on me as soon as I walked through the door."

"Oh, well, I'm sorry."

"It's alright." In a way, it was. Khoa was nice. She didn't hate him in any way. They could probably hang out a few times and things wouldn't get awkward or anything. "So, you go to the Christian school? Do you have to wear a uniform and everything?"

"Yes, I have to wear a uniform," Khoa replied with a roll of his eyes. "I have a tie and a blazer and everything. But your school is a public school so you don't have those kinds of regulations."

"We have a dress code, but nothing as strict as what you have to wear," Trini explained. She held up her fingers. "For guys, as long as your underwear doesn't show you're good. But for the girls you can't show your underwear, you can't show your bra, and you can't have more than a couple of inches of your stomach showing."

"Hmm, maybe I should go to _your_ school then." The two laughed a little. "So, tell me about your friends."

Trini smiled as she always did when her friends were mentioned. "My friends are great," she said. "We're always there for each other, we always have each other's backs. There's always someone to go to for something to do or just to listen. I can do different things with each of them as easily as we can hang out as group." _And fight monsters and save the city,_ she thought, making her smile widen. "Kimberly is my best friend, we've known each other forever. Our personalities are a little different but it's like we're sisters. Avalon, I just met recently, she's really feisty but she had a big heart for her friends. Billy is _super_ smart, he can make anything and understands just as much. I've really grown to understand him as a person and as a friend. Zack is the life of the party, he can't do _anything_ without finding some sort of enjoyment in it, even homework. Tommy's a little shy and a little flighty, but he's always there for everyone. And Jason is the one who keeps us all together; he really puts a lot of his care into the people around him."

Khoa nodded, listening quietly as she went through a rundown of her friends. He frowned a little once she got to the boys, reaching up to scratch behind his ear while he listened to her talk. "I didn't know you were friends with so many guys."

"Yeah…" Trini shrugged.

"I just mean, your personality seems a little…quiet, reserved, very calm and very loving. And the teenage guys I've been around don't seem to be anything like that." He threw in a smile, to show he was joking and Trini laughed, missing that the smile didn't reach his eyes. "They tend to be really loud and—"

"—Obnoxious?" Trini teased.

"I don't think I'm obnoxious at all."

"No, I don't think you are, either."

And the rest of the night went like that. Khoa and Trini were left to talk amongst themselves and they talked about a lot of different things. In the end, she didn't think he was bad at all.

When they left he had held his hand out for her to shake and she did, surprised by the strength of his grip. Still, she gave him a warm smile and a promise that they'd talk again soon.

As friends.

She wasn't quite sure about him being a husband.

* * *

The next morning when Trini got ready for school, she had hoped everything turned out to be a joke of some sort. Maybe that she had imagined it. She was wrong. Her mother was on her the minute she got up. Commenting on her state of dress, "you must dress conservatively to not embarrass your husband" and to the training she did, "Khoa trains in martial arts, too, but you might want to think about holding off on it a little. You don't want to become better than him.'. It was starting to drive her crazy.

She should've known Jason would've noticed it as soon as he arrived to pick her up. As he leaned over and opened the passenger side door, Trini slid inside and slammed the door shut without a word of thanks. She was so deep in thought.

Still, Jason didn't push her. He buckled in and waited for Trini to do the same before pulling away and driving to school. So many different things were already starting to rub Trini the wrong way. She couldn't help but think that her mother would say something about getting a ride to school from a boy that wasn't her husband. How she hung out with different guys in her friend group without him there. How she wouldn't even get to style her _hair_ a certain way because of her husband.

The two were silent most of the way to school. Then Jason cleared his throat and asked, "Trini, is everything okay? You're being kind of quiet."

That was a definite change. Normally, she'd be just as talkative as Kim the moment she woke up. To the same volume, maybe not. The same speed and enthusiasm, sure.

"I'm fine," Trini finally replied.

She wasn't going to say anything until all of their friends were there.

How funny would that be? "Guess what guys, I'm getting married. Oh, and I don't know my husband at all." She could only imagine what the looks on their faces would be like. Their responses…she was freaking engaged.

The realization hit her then. That if she was engaged or maybe just pre-engaged to be engaged, that meant that she couldn't really date or date other people.

And that thought really bugged her.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you to everyone who reviewed and favorited and alerted so far. I'm glad you're enjoying the second story to the series so far. The next update will come soon.

Also you pronoune Khoa Nguen as 'Kuh-waa' 'Win'.

 **~Av**


	3. Chapter 3

Of course, Trini wasn't fine and of course her friends noticed.

There was no way they couldn't notice. As good of friends they were; encouraging, supportive, and compassionate, they were all also pretty nosy with what was going on in each other's lives. They met up before school as they always did, and talked about their plans for the weekend—another movie night, a trip to the beach, maybe going to the carnival. And Trini could only sit aside and try _not_ to think about the new adjustment period her life was going into. But the more she tried not to think about it, the more she thought about it. Not even a moment of mediation worked, it was stuck there.

At least her friends were gracious enough not to ask about it until lunch. Well, more like bombard her with it. She could tell from the way they were quiet that they were waiting for her to sit down. And Zack's staring daggers at her didn't help much.

The moment Trini sat down with her tray of food, Kimberly leaned towards her. She laced her fingers together, rested her elbows on the table, and fluttered her eyelashes in the way she always did when she had some sort of gossip to talk about. The Pink Ranger waited for Trini to get settled before she aid, "So, spill it, Trini."

Trini looked back at her, startled. She blinked for a few moments before asking, "I'm sorry?"

"What's gotten you so down, girl?" Zack asked. He nudged Trini on the shoulder. "You've done nothing but mope around all day."

"It's school," Avalon pointed out. "I think all of us have the right to mope if we want to." She brushed her long, dark hair behind her ear. "Otherwise, I have to agree, Sunny. I reckon you've been a lot quieter than I've ever seen you."

Trini made a face. She rested her chin in her hand, drummed the fingers of her free one on the table. What was she supposed to say? Guess what, I'm getting married? I have a fiancé? I don't even know who this guy is and I'm expected to spend the rest of my life with him? That was the easy part, honestly. The hard part was wondering how they would react to it. Their cultures were very different than the culture that she and her family exhibited within their home and their community. She led more than a double life from being Trini Kwan and Trini the power ranger.

She was also working on how to be Trini the American and Trini the 'perfect Vietnamese daughter'. If her parents knew anything about her being a ranger, which she honestly wouldn't be surprised if were starting to wonder, that would be harder for her to deal with. Explaining that she donned a spandex suit and wielded powers and put her life on the line every day. That was a million times better than… _this._

"Hey, if it's something that's really private, we won't ask you again," Jason said, as empathetic as ever. That made Trini smile. He always so understanding. Actually, it made her feel a little better about the situation. "We're just worried about you."

"Yeah, if there's anything we can help you with, we're here," Tommy agreed.

Trini nodded. She picked up her fork and started to poke at the food on her plate. The cafeteria food was never that bad, but today it seemed as unappetizing as it ever had been. She knew it was her own perception. Because she was keeping things quiet, it was harder for her to feel at peace with everything around her. Finally, Trini took in a deep breath and said, almost timidly, "I guess I have something to tell you guys. Something big."

"That you were the one who ate Billy's stash of candy back at the Command Center?" Avalon asked. The Blue Ranger glared at her and she discreetly pointed her finger over at Kimberly, who kicked her. "Ow!" Avalon grabbed her shin, rubbing the spot she had been kicked and scowled.

"No, it's more serious than that," Trini said. She pushed her tray of food aside. "Well…I went home yesterday and my mom and dad had something serious to tell me…" She sucked in a deep breath. _Just do it now, Trini. Rip off the bandage._ "They…told me that…they found me a husband."

Kimberly smiled. "Do you know how many times my mom's told me that? Every time she goes to the beauty shop she talks to one of the stylists and says 'oh, Linda's got a son who's excited to meet you'."

"Isn't that just a Thursday for you?" Avalon asked. She received another kick. Kimberly tried to kick her twice, actually. But this time Avalon moved her leg out of the way and the tip of Kimberly's shoe slammed into the metal support of the bench, making her squeal in pain.

"Yeah, Kim's mom still isn't too happy that we're dating," Tommy agreed.

Billy's eyebrows came together in concern. "Still?"

"Don't get me wrong, she likes that Kim's happy, but she thinks that we're getting too serious for each other and that high school isn't the time to devote everything to a boyfriend or girlfriend. And that we should focus more on our studies."

"Well, she seems to study you a lot, so…" Zack said. He laughed, making the rest of the table laugh as well. Except Jason. He sat up straight, keeping his eyes on Trini.

"Hold on, guys, Trini's trying to tell us something."

She flashed him a smile of thanks but said, "Don't worry about it, Jase. I really needed the laugh. I haven't really laughed since they told me."

"Wait, so you were telling the truth?" Zack asked. "They found you a fiancé? A husband?"

Trini nodded.

"Like a real, husband?" Kimberly pressed.

Trini nodded again.

Billy spoke up. "Arranged marriages are common within the Vietnamese culture. Though I have to say I'm surprised." He looked over at his friend, now mimicking the expression that Jason had, eyebrows lowered in concern. "I didn't think it was something too prevalent here in the United States. You're saying that your mother and father have found someone for you to be arranged to be married to?"

"Yes," Trini said.

"To a complete stranger?" Kimberly practically screeched.

"He's not a stranger," Trini said. That was probably the only part of the whole thing she wasn't so weirded out by. "He's an old family friend. His name's Khoa. I used to hang out and play with him all the time. But then we went to different schools and lost touch for a while. But I guess our parents continued to talk to each other. They think we're a good match to be married."

"Okay," Avalon said slowly. "So…" She paused. It was the first time that Trini had seen her at a loss for words. She was trying to figure out what to say, or at least was completely stumped by what was going on. Trini understood. It was still hard for her to wrap her head around the idea that she would be getting married whenever her parents decided. Maybe even right after high school.

"So, what does this mean?" Tommy finally asked. "Why did they decide to make you do an arranged marriage?'

"It doesn't sound like anything you knew about," Billy added. "Or else you would've mentioned it before and I can't remember you ever saying anything about being engaged."

"They sprung it on me last night," Trini said. "Apparently my parents and his parents have been talking about this for a long time. But they never mentioned it to me. They said they wanted to take care of everything and for me to trust that they'd figure out who was the best person for me." She then decided to explain everything else, feeling vulnerable about the whole thing. She didn't really, _truly_ realize how she felt about it. "My parents are a product of an arranged marriage and I don't doubt that they love each other. I know they do. It's just not something I ever say for myself."

"What if you don't like him?" Zack asked.

"We'll 'make it work'," Trini said.

"What if you get a divorce?"

Trini paused. She wasn't sure how to say it without it sounding weird. "In our culture, they don't really believe in divorce. You have to work through your problems and follow your husband as your life moves on."

"But—"

"One of the biggest reasons my mom and dad think this is best for me is because of the financial gain from it," Trini said. She held up her hands to the look of disbelief she received in response. "They own a lot of the nail salons around here and they own a very popular restaurant. With that money…I could go to college without having to worry about pay. They say that our love will have to grow, that I have to work to make my relationship work. That it'll give stability to both of our families."

"So this is all about their money?" Kimberly asked.

"That's fucked up," Avalon said bluntly.

Trini smiled. That was what she wanted to hear. So she knew it wasn't just her. It was messed up. But it seemed that her parents and Khoa didn't understand her reservations about the entire situation. Well, Khoa had listened a little, he said he understood her reservations of everything and he had given some good points of his side of the situation. She couldn't fault him if an arranged marriage was what he truly wanted. But, it couldn't be with her. She needed to figure out how to get it to stop, but right now, talking to her friends was the best thing she could do.

Well, if they talked.

Tommy, Kimberly, Zack, Billy, and Avalon were all saying something. But Jason was sitting quietly, staring at her. She would've worried that he had become frozen if it weren't for his continuous blinking at the right time. Then, finally, he turned his head and went back to his plate of food, looking pensive. Trini frowned. She expected him to say _something_. He was one of her oldest friends and was more opinionated than others knew. She expected something, anything, but he stayed quiet.

Zack, on the other hand, wasn't quiet at all. He bobbed his head back and forth, stating things he saw that could be a good and bad thing about the whole situation. On one hand, she wasn't going to get the experience of finding someone and falling in love, on the other hand, she had to admit the money was a big thing. On one hand, her parents did know her well enough to pick out someone good, on the other hand she was stuck if they weren't in love.

And over and over while everyone gave their two cents.

Trini sat back and listened. A weight was lifted off her chest when telling her friends but she couldn't quite let go of the disappointment and sadness. Zack was right, of course, he was listing everything she thought about the whole thing and…part of her felt selfish. After the Nguyen's had left, her parents asked what she thought about Khoa and their arrangement.

"I don't know what to think," Trini admitted. "I haven't seen him in a long time and now we're expected to get married and…I just think if I had some more time—"

"We don't have time, Trini," Mr. Kwan interrupted. "This needs to be announced as soon as possible. You will to be married right after high school or even after your first year of college, whichever is the most feasible for the families."

Trini gasped in surprise. "What?"

"Yes, the sooner this merger happens, the better for our families."

"You _just_ threw this whole arranged marriage thing on me and now you expect me to get married right after high school? That's not…that's not nearly enough time to get to know Khoa or his parents or…"

Mrs. Kwan took a step towards her daughter. She reached out and framed her face with her hands. Her mother looked very dainty and conservative, but she was strong. Trini could feel her mother's strength as her hands held onto her face, keeping her daughter to look directly at her. "Trini, this is something that you have to trust us with. We've given a lot of our lives, _sacrificed_ a lot of our time for you. Now it's your turn to do something for us. This is the only thing we're asking of you."

 _If only you knew how much of a tall order it is,_ Trini had thought. She spent most of her days fighting off the toughest of monsters, working hard to get a good education, put her life on the line _every day_ for her parents. But she couldn't tell them that. And because she couldn't tell them…they'd never know and would still have it to hold over her head.

She was stuck and she knew it.

The conversation topic quickly changed to the football game the night before, Tommy was never really one to hold serious conversations that weren't about ranger duties very welly. He became nervous every time anyone mentioned the words 'we have to talk' or 'can we talk?'. Then again, Kimberly did find a sort of entertainment with starting off not so serious conversations that way. She always had, even before getting together with Tommy. Trini tried to warn her about it but Kimberly did seem to think different shades of pink clashing were very important conversations to have.

The rest of the school day went on as well as it normally did, yet there was something that still really bothered Trini. The whole dating thing. Because…well…she had been gearing up to tell Jason how she felt about him. How she felt they were closer than friends and to figure out what was going on between them. Or maybe she had been the only one to feel it?

In short, Trini was shy. She was shy in her relationship with Richie, unable to look at him without blushing and bashfully looking away when caught. Unable to create a simple sentence when he was around, making Kimberly be the one to primarily talk to him. Even when they were studying together—which would've been better if they could do more than smile at each other—she wasn't sure what to say. They managed a relationship as short as it had lasted and were still pretty good friends.

But she wanted something more than that. Wanted something _real_ like that Tommy and Kimberly had. Wanted to be with someone and enjoy everything about them. How could she do that with anyone that couldn't know about her Power Ranger secret?

Finally, the school day ended. Trini packed up her bookbag and headed to her locker. She only had a few minutes before she was needed in the student center to do another day of her mentoring program. Students milled back and forth, racing off to their after-school sports and activities. Trini strolled to her locker, finding Jason at his.

"Hi," she greeted him.

Jason turned and smiled at her. "Hey Trini, how's it going? How was home ec?"

"Could've been better," Trini admitted.

"I thought you liked the class."

"I did, before I realized that it was actually going to help me be the 'perfect housewife'," she said, using air quotes around the words. Jason nodded and turned back to his locker. Trini cleared her throat. "So, uh, I couldn't help but notice that you were really quiet at lunch today. You know…with my announcement and everything."

"I didn't know what to say," Jason admitted.

"You always know what to say."

Now Jason smiled once more. He closed his locker and stepped back to face her. "I don't _always_ know what to say," he defended himself. "Especially not with something like this. Honestly, Trini, I didn't say anything because I didn't know if what I had to say would offend you."

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't know if this whole fiancé thing was something you wanted, so I waited to see what you had to say. And…well, it's obvious it's not really something you're into. Whenever you're talking about something you really enjoy, something you believe in, you get this light about you. When you were talking about Khoa, it was like you were sucking a lemon."

Trini laughed at his joke, making him laugh as well. "What do you think about the whole thing?"

"Well, I can't tell you how to feel, but personally? I don't like the idea." Jason shrugged. "I don't think anyone should have any control over someone else's life nor should they make decisions for them."

"But they're my parents," Trini pointed out.

"And they always will be. But at some point, they have to realize that you're your own person. You're not a little girl that they can make decisions for." Jason took a step back. "I'm sorry, I'm being a little forward with this."

"No!" Trini placed her hand on his arm. She smiled warmly at him. "I like getting your input on things like this, Jase. You make it easier for me to wrap my head around things and figure things out. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Jason looked at his watch and started to pack his backpack faster. "I have to get going or I'll be late for football practice. Do you still need a ride home?"

"Yes, that'd be great. I can wait until your practice is over. I have a meeting with the Mentor Committee anyway." Trini hurried to pack her own bag then slammed her locker door shut. "I'll see you later." She turned on her heel and hurried to the student center. "Hi," she greeted her mentee, sitting down at the table. "Sorry, I'm late."

"It's okay," Ian Hernandez murmured in reply.

"I hope you weren't waiting too long."

"Not too long," Ian said.

Trini set her backpack down and turned back to Ian. She pushed her hair behind her ears. "What's up? How was your day?"

"It was fine."

He didn't say much more than that. And it was okay with Trini. Ian wasn't someone who spoke a lot and when he did, it was when he really had something on his mind. He couldn't be rushed.

Trini understood how that felt.

* * *

A couple of hours later it was time to go home. Trini packed everything away and spoke for a moment with Marge about what was to be expected with their next meeting then walked out the front of the school to meet up with Jason. So far, they hadn't been called in to help with anything ranger related, and at a certain part of the day if it didn't happen it wasn't going to.

Thank God, she needed a bit of a break.

She found Jason sitting on the front steps of the school, reading a book with the spine bent all the way back—in the way that would've driven Billy crazy—and walked over to him. She reached over and quickly slammed her hands down onto his shoulders, growling at the same time. But Jason hardly flinched.

He turned the page in his book and said, "Hey, Trini," as if noting out of the ordinary had happened.

Trini pouted. "You weren't scared?"

"Actually, I heard you coming," Jason replied. He closed his book and leaned up to look at her. "So, I had plenty of time to prepare. You're not as light on your feet as you think. You might want to take a page from your ranger powers and learn how to be a tiger." He laughed when Trini cuffed him over the head then moved to sit beside him. "How was your meeting?"

"It was great," Trini said. And she meant it. Even if she couldn't get so much out of Ian this time. But as long as he talked a little, it was a success to her. "How was practice?"

"Does this bruise mean anything to you?" He motioned to the swelling of his cheekbone.

Trini gasped and leaned forward to inspect it closer. "What happened? Don't you wear helmets during practice?"

"Normally, we do. But Zack was trying to show off for some of the cheerleaders and threw the football for me to catch without looking. Unfortunately, that's exactly when I decided to take off my helmet."

"Ooh." Trini reached out and gently ran her thumb over the skin. It didn't look _too_ bad but definitely needed some ice. Jason winced and leaned back from her touch, grasping her wrist as he did so. He lowered their hands. "Sorry, did that hurt?"

He smirked. "Just a little."

"Trini?"

Hearing her name called, Trini turned to find Khoa strolling to a stop down the sidewalk. He frowned, eyes flickering from her to Jason then back to her. "Khoa." Trini stood up, brushing off the seat of her pants. "What are you doing here?"

Khoa glanced down at his attire; his school uniform with the top button undone and his tie loosened. "I got off school and decided to come see you. So we could talk some more." He walked closer to the two and looked at Jason once more. His face still held a flat expression, Jason looked back at him curiously.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Trini laid her hand on Jason's shoulder and used her free one to gesture between the two. "Khoa, this is my friend, Jason. Jason, this is Khoa."

Jason held out his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Khoa."

Khoa finally smiled, reaching out his hand to shake Jason's. "It's nice to meet you, too, Jason. I've heard a lot about you."

Trini looked back and forth between the two as their handshake ended. Jason continued to smile, as friendly as ever. But Khoa, she noticed. Had gone right back to frowning.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hey guys, I'm back! Not only have I been working on my Avalon series with _New Beginning_ (recently updated with chapter 40) _,_ and my Bailey series with _Headstrong,_ but I've also been out of town at a funeral for a short while. So, thank you all for being so patient with me while I got things in order and took some time to myself. I hope this chapter was enough for you to enjoy after my lengthy absence.

Also, for those wondering, I haven't decided if this is still set during early seasons of MMPR or if Jason, Zack, and Trini stayed long enough to get the ninja powers. I'll figure it out soon. Also, things pick up in the next chapter though you can see here that Khoa isn't on the up and up…if the story summary didn't already tell you that. Lol.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed and favorited and alerted so far. I'm glad you're enjoying the second story to the series so far. The next update will come soon.

 **~Av**


	4. Chapter 4

It had been two weeks since Trini was told that she was going to have a husband. And within those two weeks, Khoa and his parents had been around her house more often than she thought they'd be. Not only did it make it more difficult for her to completely wrap her head around everything that was being decided for her, but it made it more difficult to go out for ranger duties.

At one point, she had to pretend to be sick then sneak out of her bedroom to teleport down to the park where Goldar and putties were terrorizing it with the new monster, Tangzilla—a vine monster that lashed out with thorny vines with cactus ends.

"I'm here, guys!" Trini called as soon as she landed in the park.

"It's about time!" Zack cried.

"Khoa again?" Kimberly asked.

"His whole family this time," Trini explained. She then turned and struck with her foot into the Z-plate of a putty, knocking them to the ground where it wiggled spastically before breaking apart. "Believe me when I say I don't want to talk about it."

"Then let's take this guy down," Jason declared. Trini nodded, flashing him a grateful smile and the group came together; Tommy, Jason, Kimberly, Trini, Zack, Billy, Avalon, and Avalon's little sister, Bailey. "It's morphin' time!"

"Tiger zord!"

"Stegosaurus!"

"Ankylosaurus!"

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Saber-Tooth Tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

"Power Rangers!"

Once morphed, Trini leapt forward and flew into battle with Jason against Goldar. Goldar was one of the toughest monsters they'd ever had to face. No matter what they did, he was always able to come back from whatever attack they gave him until Rita and Zedd sent them out again. This time, however, it appeared that he wanted nothing more than to show off his newfound power since he got his wings back. No matter what she and Jason did to try and take him down, he knocked them back with little to no effort.

"Power Daggers!" Trini summoned her power weapons.

"Power Sword!" Jason followed her head.

The two leapt forward and started to attack Goldar once more. He pulled out his word and slashed it this way and that, keeping Trini and Jason from getting too close to him. Trini gritted her teeth and flipped her daggers in her hand. Hers were a close ranged weapon and she needed to be sure she could use them that way. Trini looked over and glanced at Jason's Power Sword, immediately getting an idea.

She looked around, watching as her friends had summoned their weapons; the Power Bow, Power Axe, Power Lance, Power Staff, and the Ankylo Blaster and were taking down putties left and right. Tommy, on the other hand, worked to take down Tangzilla, who continuously used his cactus hands to keep him and Saba at bay.

"Got it," Trini said. She turned to Jason, holding up a fist. "You think you can handle Goldar for me?"

"What do you have in mind?" Jason replied.

"Getting up close and personal."

"You got it!" Jason stepped back away from Goldar and ran his gloved hand up the length of his power sword. A red glow raised along the sword. "Hey Goldar, how about we make this more interesting!" He called. "Power Staff, power up!" With that he raised his sword high overhead and leapt through the air towards Goldar.

Goldar lifted his sword and clashed it against Jason's, the surge of energy knocking him to the ground. Goldar laughed uproarisly and continued to push his sword down towards Jason's neck. Jason's arms shook with effort as he tried to hold the tip of the blade away from him. It came down closer, closer, closer.

"Say goodbye, red ranger!" Goldar crowed, eyes shining with mirth.

Trini took the opportunity to race forward. She leapt high intot he air and brought her Power Daggers overhead. "Power Daggers, Power Up!" Her daggers cracked with yellow electricity. She could feel them pulse with power beneath her palms. "Hiya!" Trini spun in a quick circle, slashing Goldar across the back with both of her weapons.

Goldar screamed as electricity shot through his body, enough so that in glimpses of the electricity ravaging his body she could see his skeleton. Finally, the power from her Power Daggers combined with Jason's Power Sword proved to be too much and Goldar rocketed across the park and into a set of trees before falling to the ground.

"This isn't the last of me, rangers!" Goldar cried. He disappeared back to the Lunar Palace in a rush of flame. Tangzilla followed afterwards with the last of the putties being taken down by a quick tag-team of Avalon and Bailey.

"Power Down!" Tommy declared and they all de-morphed. "Is everyone okay?" He asked, looking around at his friends.

"Yeah, we're fine," Zack agreed. He cracked his knuckles, stretching his arms out in front of him. "It'll take a lot more than _that_ to take us down."

"What was that, anyway?" Trini asked.

"That was Tangzilla," Avalon said. She reached up rub a scratch on her arm. She must've gotten caught off-guard by one of Tangzilla's cactus hands before Trini got there. "It was created by one of the cactus plants out in the dessert."

"My class was taking a field trip of the area today," Bailey explained. "To learn more about the ecosystem and how delicate it is, I reckon Rita and Zedd had been watching and thought to use it as a monster for us."

"Judging by its characteristics of an actual cactus," Billy added. "The better way to take it down wouldn't be with an overabundance of heat, but with an overabundance of cold." He rubbed his chin. "So far we don't seem to have any weapons that has that sort of capability. So if he does become more bothersome in the future, we'll need to be prepared for it."

Kimberly let out a low laugh. "For a cactus? Goldar is scarier than that. We can take him."

"You got that right," Zack agreed. He reached up a hand and the two high-fived. Then his stomach growled. "Now that we've got that settled, I think we deserve to have a bit of a celebration. So let's go to Ernie's and have some milkshakes." He placed his hands on his chest and smiled his charming smile. "On me, of course."

"This isn't your ploy to get Angela's attention again, is it?" Jason asked.

Zack made a show of shaking his head, then placed his hand on Jason's shoulder. "If that were the case, I'd just go straight into telling her I'm a Power Ranger. And we all know how badly that'll work out." Zack raised his hands in the air. "But I'm being nice to my friends, can't say I don't do anything for you. You better take it now or I'm going to change my mind."

"If you're paying, then I'm going to get the biggest milkshake on the menu," Tommy declared.

"That's not any different, mate," Bailey pointed out. "You normally do that anyway, but you make Kim pay." Kimberly gave Tommy a smug smile as he blushed. Then Tommy reached over and ruffled Bailey's hair, pushing her fringe into her face. Bailey squealed and backed away, doing her best to fix her hair.

"Didn't you know?" Avalon teased. "Bay has to look perfect now because of Fred. You can't mess up her hair or anything else."

"Av!" Bailey protested, her cheeks turning red.

Trini laughed along with her friends then frowned. The mention of Fred reminded her, she had to get home or her parents and the Nguyen's would soon realize she was gone. "Thanks for the offer, Zack, but I can't make it," she said. "I have to get back home before anyone realizes I'm gone."

Kimberly sucked in a sharp breath of air; a mocking, teasing gesture. "You mean the great and honest Trini Kwan has _lied_ to her parents about her whereabouts?" She then wagged her finger towards her best friend in a way that only a parent could. "Shame on you, Trini, I thought we raised you better than that."

Trini laughed along with her friends.

"Why would it matter now?" Avalon pointed out. She brushed her hair behind her ear, eyes flashing. "You're already out and if they haven't called you yet, the don't know you're gone. I reckon with this whole wedding thing you've probably got another half hour or so, yeah?"

"Yeah…" Trini agreed. She tried not to be swayed by her friends' teasing. They weren't so keen on her upcoming wedding, whenever that was, either. But all the same she didn't think they were taking it too seriously. How could they? They didn't understand what it was like in her culture. You didn't disrespect your parents without causing them great disappointment that meant…a lot, actually. Her friends made fun of her for keeping her grades up to be straight As or nearly straight As, but they didn't know how shameful it was to get even an A- or a B+.

"Av's right," Jason agreed, to her's and Trini's surprise. He smiled at her, crossing his arms. "You're already out, so chances are that you can't be in any more trouble than you already are. Why not come with us? I promise I'll have you back to your house as soon as you want to leave. "

"Hey!" Kimberly stepped forward and poked Jason in the chest with her finger. "How come _you_ get to take her? What makes you think one of the rest of us wouldn't want to do it?" Trini recognized the sparkling look in Kimberly's eyes and shook her head. She knew her best friend was up to something but it appeared that Jason was none the wiser. "We have lots of stuff we need to talk about."

"Like what?" Trini asked.

Kimberly looped her arm through Trini's. "Liiike, girl stuff, that's what. We haven't had a girls' night in a long while. We need to get together. Right?" She turned and looked at Avalon, almost glaring at her.

The Orange Ranger held up her hands defensively. "No need to give me the eyes Pinkerbell, I completely agree."

"And Bailey, too," Kimberly agreed.

"Me too?" Bailey looked surprised.

Trini smiled at her. "Of course." She was part of the team, too. Just because she was younger didn't mean she didn't enjoy having her around. Seeing her exuberance for everything they were doing as rangers was always a treat. And she knew she didn't have any friends her age other than Fred Kelman, so it had to be lonely sometimes.

"Then that settles it," Kimberly declared. "We're having a girls' night."

"Okay, then we'll have a boy's night, too," Zack said. He looped his arms around Billy, Tommy, and Jason's shoulders to pull them closer to him. "Only because I don't want to be left out."

The group all laughed. "Let's get to Ernie's then, if I'm going to take advantage of the one-time Zack has any money to spend I can't look a gift horse in the mouth," Billy said. With that, the rangers all teleported to the Youth Center, around the corner from the locker rooms where no one would see them. Then they strolled inside as if nothing had happened and they arrived like normal.

"Hey, there are my favorite customers," Ernie said as they trooped in. "I was starting to wonder when you guys were going to show."

"We don't come here _that_ often do we?" Billy asked modestly.

Avalon snorted. "Even before I met you lot I saw you here all the time. It got to the point I wondered if you ever went home I saw you so much." She crossed her arms. "Yes, Smurf, you guys come here a lot."

Billy rolled his eyes. "Thanks for that, Ava. You really know how to shoot down someone's modesty."

"Any time."

Trini smiled. She looked around the Youth Center, watching as her classmates and students from other schools in the Angel Grove area danced on the practice mats, climbed up the ropes, lifted weights, and followed classes around the gym. Part of her wondered if Khoa was going to show up; she hadn't seen him around before but he _had_ been in Angel Grove as long as her family was. And as far as she knew, he couldn't quite stomach all the attention from their families either, despite being on board of their arrangement.

"I'll get your drink," Jason said as soon as they stepped up to the counter. He lowered himself onto a stool and Trini sat next to him.

Trini blinked at him in surprise. Pleasant surprise. How nice. "I thought Zack was going to get it for us?" She asked instead.

Jason smiled. "Have you met Zack? Chances are he's going to run out of money before he realizes how much this stuff costs. Didn't you notice he bought Angela's lunch yesterday? And she got a lot."

Trini shook her head. Oh yes, Angela. Zack had been smitten with her since he first saw her and bent over backwards to try and get her attention. She didn't think Angela was a gold-digger by any means, but she did think Zack worked too hard to get her attention when it wasn't clear if she thought the same way. Why would you have to jump through so many hoops to get someone's attention like that. If they liked you back, they would've made it clear from the beginning.

"Should we tell him to give up?" Trini asked. "It's starting to become a little pathetic."

"Nah, I think we should give him a little more time, _then_ we can tell him." Jason turned to look at her closely. "Speaking of which, how are thing going with you and Khoa? It's been a couple of weeks but it doesn't seem like you've grown on him at all. Or, that he's grown on you?"

Trini shrugged. "We spend nearly every night together."

"Really?"

Really. Her parents insisted they do homework together. Not just so that they would get more time to spend with each other, but to understand how they worked with stress. They were only made to speak Vietnamese together when they were alone and they were hardly ever alone. His mother or her mother would continuously pop their heads in to make sure that things were going okay between the two of them.

"They come over for dinner a lot," Trini explained. "That's why they were over when I left to help you guys fight."

"Ah, gotcha." Jason looked at her curiously. He smiled over at Ernie when he gave them their order. They went to the Youth Center enough that he always knew what they wanted. "So…what do you think of him? It didn't seem like he liked me very much when we met."

"He likes you just fine, he just doesn't know you," Trini explained. "He can actually be kind of shy. It makes me wonder what my parents see about him that they think is perfect for me. It's kind of hard to make him be a little more extroverted. But it's not like I can change him."

"No, that wouldn't be good," Jason agreed. "He doesn't look like your type, anyway."

"Then what is my type?" Trini teased. "Someone like Zack?" As far as she could tell, they were complete opposites. And if it weren't for the fact she'd known Zack so long so might've entertained it. There was only so much time you could spend with someone before your feelings for them changed a little bit. _Like…_ Trini turned to rest her arms on the counter, looking at Jason out of the corner of her eye. She'd been doing that a lot lately as well.

If only she wasn't so shy and could tell him how she felt. But how weird would that be? She was engaged in any sense—it still wasn't official—and was thinking about dating someone else. She hadn't exactly said she was going to go along with the marriage but her parents continued to talk about it as if things were done and done. Maybe she should explain more about wanting to date other people before getting married. To at least let her voice be heard.

Or at least to be able to kiss someone else before saying 'I do'.

"No," Jason said. "Someone who's strong, a natural born leader, is tall, handsome…and can kick your butt in a fight."

"If I wasn't for the last part, I'd think you were describing yourself," Trini joked. She was sure she had an advantage over Jason's martial arts training. She'd been training practically since she was born and Jason hadn't started until he was five. She had a couple years edge on him.

Jason flicked his gaze towards her. "What if I was?"

A flush rose to Trini's cheeks. She tried not to let out a squeal of excitement, suddenly understanding how Kimberly always got to be so mooney over Tommy. Here she was wondering if she'd ever get the chance to go out with Jason—or anyone else for that matter—and here he was practically saying they were a better match. She certainly thought so.

"Then I'd say…you're probably right," Trini agreed, finding her voice shaking.

Jason's eyes lit up. He turned her way and said, "Are you doing anything Saturday? I was thinking—"

"Hey, uh, Jase," Zack said, pushing between them at the counter. He looked sheepish, leaning forward, resting on his arms. "I hate to ask this, but, uh, you wouldn't happen to have any extra money, would you? I kinda didn't expect everyone to _really_ take me up on my offer to pay so…"

Jason shot a smirk towards Trini, making her laugh.

* * *

An hour later Trini arrived back at her house after Kimberly dropped her off down the street. She had expected she'd be able to sneak back into her room and was surprised to find Khoa waiting on the front porch for her, fiddling with a book in his hands. Funny, it was like how he'd run into her and Jason a few weeks ago.

Still, Trini held her breath as she walked up the front path towards him. She knew what was going to happen next; Khoa would go running inside to announce to everyone she was back and that she had snuck out and not been sick and she would get in so much trouble. Grounded for two months was the more likely punishment for lying. The most severe punishment she had received was when she'd gotten a B- on a test after a hard week of monster fights.

She couldn't think about it without her heart sinking to her feet.

"So, you're back," Khoa said as she stopped in front of him. "You're not sick."

"Yeah, I uh…I just needed to get some air," Trini explained. "I went on a walk." _If by walk you mean take on responsibilities that were given to me,_ she thought. She glanced towards the house, wondering if her parents of the Nguyen's knew she was gone.

Khoa must've read her mind as he said, "I told them I would go check on you and that we were going to get some ice cream. They barely looked up when I left. I don't think they knew you weren't up there."

Relief washed through Trini's body. Okay, that was good. She could avoid angering or disappointing them in any way. "Thanks, Khoa." She started to go by him but Khoa didn't move out of her way, prompting her to take a step back.

Instead, he closed his book and stood up from the porch. "Do you understand the seriousness of what I've done for you?" He snapped. His eyes flashed with anger. "I just lied to both of our parents for you and you know how bad that can be. Lying to our elders!" His nostrils flared. "And all you can say in response is 'Thanks, Khoa'. I expected a little more gratitude for that. I could've told them that you snuck out."

Trini took in a deep breath. She hadn't seen him so angry before.

"And what were you doing that you had to lie and sneak out?" He demanded, taking a step towards her. "It must've been important if you were willing to put everything on the line like that?"

"I had…some stuff I needed to do," Trini said slowly. She couldn't tell him she was a ranger, but she couldn't quite come up with a good excuse for it either. "Some people I needed to talk to. I forgot about a school project I needed to work on—"

"—Nothing's more important than you family," Khoa interrupted. "And we're going to be family soon. You can't lie to us, to me, about these sorts of things."

Now Trini started to feel angry. How dare he speak to her that way. "We're not related, Khoa! We're not family. We're nothing more than friends."

"I'm your _husband!"_

 _"_ We're _not_ married, Khoa and we're not going to be!" Trini stepped around him and started up the stairs but Khoa grabbed her wrist. He forced her around and tightened his grasp around her communicator, pressing the metal against her wrist in his tight grasp. Trini gasped in pain.

Khoa ignored it and leaned his face close to hers. "You're not going to embarrass me like this. If you don't like it, I'll tell everyone where you've been and we'll see how it feels to be a disgrace to your family."

Trini looked back at Khoa with a straight glare. "Let go," she said firmly.

Khoa continued to tighten his squeeze.

"Khoa, I mean it. Let go of me." She wouldn't give him the satisfaction that he was starting to hurt her, no matter how much she wanted to cry out. Instead, Khoa let go of her hand, still glaring at her. Then he smoothed down his shirt and waited. There was a long moment of silence between the two before Trini went to the door and went inside.

The two walked to the living room and their parents looked up from their conversation. "So, how was your ice cream?" Mr. Kwan asked.

Khoa stepped forward to answer before Trini could, the angry mask immediately replaced with one of pleasant enthusiasm. "It was great. Trini showed me around the Youth Center, this place where she and her friends hang out, I think I'm going to go there more often."

Trini stared at him in disbelief. Moments before he was practically threatening her and now here he was talking about ice cream and their good time. She shook her head, turning away from him. She couldn't hear Mrs. Nguyen's question, only snapping back to attention when her mother cleared her throat and gave her a tight-lipped smile saying, 'answer the question'.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Nguyen, what were you saying?" Trini asked.

"I asked if you were feeling better," Mrs. Nguyen replied. "You were in your room for a long time."

"Oh, yes, I'm doing much better. Thank you for asking," Trini replied.

Mr. Nguyen clasped his hands together. "Great, then that means you'll be perfectly healthy for Saturday night."

"Saturday?" Trini looked around the room. "What's Saturday."

"Our date, of course," Khoa replied. He turned to look at her. "You can't expect us to get married and not go on a few dates first, did you?"

Actually, she did.

* * *

 **A/N:** Sorry, I didn't have so much time to respond to reviews for the last chapter. But I've got this one up a lot quicker in response. Thank you to everyone who reviewed and favorited and alerted so far. I'm glad you're enjoying the second story to the series so far. The next update will come soon.

 **~Av**


	5. Chapter 5

"How did I not know this was going to end up with you lying on the mat?" Trini pressed her finger to her chin and tilted her head to the side. Jason rolled his eyes before reaching out his hand to allow himself to be pulled up. "I guess I'm just psychic."

"Ha. Ha. Ha." Jason brushed his hands off on the sides of his sweatpants. "My hands slipped."

"Or I'm just too fast for you." Trini poked him in the shoulder before backing away so that she had more space on the practice mats. Enough so that she could do the same thing she always did when sparring and fighting in battle. She watched him, to find the little tell-tale signs of what he was going to do next. Everyone always gave it away through tiny things they did, whether they noticed it or not.

She was ready, waiting.

"That's not possible," Jason replied.

Trini's eyebrows rose. "Oh really?"

"Really." Jason puffed up his chest and said, "Because the Tyrannosaurus Rex is fast."

Trini gave him a look. "You do know their top speed only made it to about 25 miles per hour, right?" She giggled when Jason visibly let out the air he was holding. "And even then, I'd still beat you because Saber-Tooth Tigers can get to their top speed of 30 miles per hour."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Jason waved his hand. "But the Tyrannosaurus Rex is stronger."

"You sure about that?" Trini brought her hands up by her face.

"Oh yeah." Jason did the same.

The sounds of the Youth Center swirled around them, but Jason and Trini only had eyes for each other. They waited to see if the other would move first, but when neither did, they moved at the same time. Jason shuffled forward and sent a punch out to Trini, who quickly deflected it with a push of her hand. Jason's eyes narrowed in concentration and he moved to do the same with the other fist but Trini did the same. They started to move in what looked like a choreographed dance. One would take the initiative to go on the offensive, and then it would switch. They moved together across the floor in very quickly movements that it looked like they were taking anger and frustration all out on each other.

However, that wasn't the point of sparring. It was something Trini took to heart when she first learned martial arts from her family. Sparring wasn't just to learn how to fight; it was to train the body completely. To get the mind and body connected in the movements that would eventually be subconscious and a reflex of what was coming. It was becoming trained to any type of attack that'd come their way.

Finally, Trini saw an opening and attacked. Jason brought up his hands to block Trini's upraised right hand. She moved quickly to bring up her right to punch him in the stomach—not hard, her knuckles barely grazed him, one of the biggest rules in sparring was that they weren't to attack. Jason doubled over, and Trini used that momentum to grab Jason's arm and flip him over her and onto his back on the ground. Trini smiled and placed her hands on her hips as she looked down at Jason.

He groaned, blinking towards the ceiling.

"Give up, yet?" She asked.

"Yes, yes, I give up." Jason held up his hands and pressed his palms together. There was a moment of silence and Trini looked at him funny. "I'm praying that you don't continue to beat me up."

"I didn't know you were religious," Trini remarked. She had never heard of him speaking to or about a God, whichever one he decided to believe in. Then again, Trini was certainly more open with her spirituality than others, though even she wouldn't particularly consider herself religious.

Jason rolled forward and grabbed onto Trini's legs, knocking her to the ground. A grunt escaped her lips when her back hit the ground. Jason pinned her shoulders down to the mat, holding himself up above her. "I'm not," he said. "I'm just making sure that you were paying attention. You always have to be prepared, right?"

Trini grinned back…and made no move to push Jason away from her. It wasn't because she was enjoying him laying over her like that—though that was a big part—but it was because of how comfortable she felt with him compared to Khoa. When Khoa was around she tensed up, unsure of what he or their parents were going to do or say. But with Jason and the rest of her friends, she was with family and it was all she wanted.

"Ahem." Jason and Trini both looked up before scrambling into a less compromising position. Khoa continued to look down at them with a blank expression on his face. But smiled pleasantly when Trini was as far away as—comfortably—possible. "I was looking for you, your mother and father said that you might be down here."

"Yeah, I was just doing some sparring," Trini explained. She tilted her head towards Jason, whose eyebrows rose and he smiled a little, but didn't say anything. "He practices martial arts, too." She tried to be nice to him, despite how much tension was already being held in her shoulders. "You practice, too, right?"

"Yes, I'm a Hong Dai, or a master in Vovinam," Khoa explained. He tried to appear modest but a slightly smug smile came to his face. "We practice it with and without weapons, based on the principal of 'between hard and soft'."

"We don't practice with weapons," Jason said.

"Weapons aren't typically used in the practices I participate in. I focus more on the training of the body and mind."

Jason's eyes narrowed for a moment before it went away. He smiled and nodded, "That's a lot of what I believe in as well." Trini noticed something flash in Jason's eye. She reached out to grasp his arm but a look from Khoa made her hand drop back to her side. "Do you want to sparr? I'm always looking for someone else to fight against. All of the guys I know aren't really up to my speed." With a teasing smile, Jason reached out and shoved Trini on the shoulder.

Trini laughed and shoved him back.

Khoa, instead, frowned. "I don't think it's very nice to disrespect her like that," he said.

Then Jason stopped laughing. He finally got to his feet and looked directly in Khoa's eyes. "It was just a joke. Trini and I have a close friendship and we joke around with each other like that. No disrespect meant. But if that's what you think, then Trini, I apologize." He took a step back and continued to look Khoa in the eye. "Now, do you want to sparr?"

Khoa nodded. He backed a few steps away as well, moving into a fighting stance as well. The two looked at each other for a long moment, the same way Jason and Trini had done before. Trini backed away from the practice mat and crossed her arms over her chest.

She wasn't sure what to think, honestly. Or what to say. Jason hadn't disrespected her at all, Khoa, once again, was being a little too pushy. Part of her wanted to immediately rebuke him for it, but she then remembered the way he had squeezed her hand a few nights before. Besides, she could understand how upset he was. As far as anyone knew, she was in her room sleeping off a sickness, and when he went to check on her she wasn't there. She couldn't talk about being a ranger, so there was nothing more than a flimsy excuse that he probably _knew_ was an excuse.

If he told her parents…that was the worst things that could ever happen.

And she was never one that was to disappoint anyone around her. If she could comprise something, then she'd figure out how to do it. She was selfless enough to understand that. But then there was the part of her that was curious to know what it was that Khoa could do as martial artist. It was a bit of a stereotype that all Asians knew martial arts, but there were some that found it be a very respectable practice. If Khoa practiced it as well, then there was a chance his exterior was just that, an exterior.

Khoa and Jason arranged themselves on the mat and then they were starting to fight. Trini's eyebrows rose in surprise. There were a lot of moves that Khoa was dealing against Jason that she had never seen before. Not except for her elders that she'd only recently met when her family took a trip to Vietnam. But Jason continued to put up a formidable fight against his opponent. Trini, having known him for so long, could see that he was putting out some of his fanciest of moves, and growing slightly frustrated that Khoa was able to deflect them so easily.

Finally, Jason was knocked to the floor once more and Khoa moved, quick as lighting, so that his foot snapped towards Jason's head. But he stopped at the last minute, his foot only a few inches over Jason's neck. Then Khoa took a large step back, giving Jason berth so that he could come to his feet once more, and the two bowed at each other. Then Jason grinned and held out his hand for Khoa to shake.

Khoa did so and Jason patted him on the shoulder and said, "I'm impressed, man, you've really got some talent there."

"Thanks," Khoa replied. "I studied really hard. I can tell you've studied, too. What sort of martial arts have you practice in?"

And Trini continued to watch the two, trying not to make a sound of surprise. Khoa didn't seem to be the kind of person who would take losing very well, but he was speaking to the red ranger with a friendly demeanor about the different kinds of martial arts that they both knew. It wasn't until Khoa was about to go to the juice bar that Trini felt her heart slowly start to sink.

"Well, I mean, it's something I do for fun. Otherwise, I'm so busy with my studies," Khoa explained. "I plan on getting as good of an education as I can within the business realm before taking over my parents' business. But as you can imagine, it doesn't leave too much time for me to truly have time to go and hang out. So, I already have many things I'm juggling but I always make time for Vovinam. But I'll have to take off this weekend as it is."

Jason didn't realize the tension that was slowly starting to rise between them. But Khoa's next words immediately managed to make Trini's heart topedo to her feet as well as make her feel like passing out, in response to Jason's question of why he was missing the weekend practice, "Because Trini and I are going out on our first date."

And with that, Khoa walked over to the counter to get something to drink. Jason seemed to have frozen on the spot, his expression almost mimicking that of Trini's. She would've laughed hysterically if it had been any other conversation they were having. As it was, Trini managed a small giggle, running her fingers through her hair as she said, "I don't think I've ever seen you so speechless."

"Yeah, I just…I guess I just don't get it," Jason said slowly. "It didn't sound like you were so interested in him a few days ago."

"I-I'm not," Trini said. She looked at him funny. Why did he seem so upset about it? Jason was never one to show many emotions as he preferred to be more reserved. When he was happy and when he was pissed—usually having something to do with being a ranger—was most of what he showed. Even when Tommy had left being a ranger Jason didn't seem so withdrawn. But now looking into his brown eyes, Trini could see he was struggling to keep eye contact with her. "It's just…you know because of this whole arranged marriage thing—"

"—You don't have to explain anything to me, Trini," Jason said.

No. She _did_ have to explain things to him. She needed him to know for sure that there was nothing going on between her and Khoa. Nothing other than a stupid little arrangement that she really didn't want to go through with anyway. There were too many things to talk about and people to convince and ranger duties and…ugh. She wanted nothing more than to go to bed and curl up under her blankets and put life on pause for _one freaking second_ just so she could sort out her thoughts.

Was that too much to ask?

"Our parents just want us to go and see how things would work out between us," Trini explained. Jason nodded. "And if I can get through the night without wanting to strangle myself I think it would be pretty successful. Things are already worked out and it's just one night, and I don't want to disappoint anyone."

"It's okay, I promise." Jason picked up his towel form by his bag and ran it over his hands. "I have to get going or I'll be late for work. I'll see you later, Trini. Thanks for working out with me today."

Well, it was mostly because Zack was doing some yardwork with his dad all day and Tommy was hanging out with Kimberly—again, so he called her. She gave him grief about that for a while, too, even going so far as to tickling him until he promised he'd call her first the next time. (And then forcing her to promise that she would never reveal he was ticklish).

"Yeah, you're welcome," Trini replied. "I'll see you later."

And she watched him leave, folding her arms over her chest.

Why did it seem like that was happening a lot lately?

* * *

"And he looked so, I don't know…" Trini sat down on her bed, hugging her pillow to her chest, looking at Kimberly and Avalon up through her bangs. "He looked really sad."

"I bet he was," Avalon said calmly. She pulled her long hair back from her face and rested her chin in her hands. "Jason's the kind of guy that when he wants to—"

"Well, duh!" Kimberly interrupted. She leaned forward and slapped Trini on the knee. Her eyes flashed with excitement as she said, "Because he's into you. Totally into you!" She then stuck her finger in front of Trini's face, making her jerk her head back, blinking rapidly. "Jason wants to ask you out but he couldn't because you're going out with Khoa!"

"I'm _not_ going out with Khoa," Trini said firmly. She looked over at Avalon, who had stuck her finger in her ear and wiggled it around at Kimberly's outburst, hoping to appeal to her. "Will you please get through her head that I'm not going out with him?"

"Kim, why would she go out with Khoa if she doesn't want to marry him?" Avalon asked her. Then she turned back to Trini and said, "But I was going to say the same thing as Kim but without all of the extra perkiness attached. I reckon Jason likes you, and he wanted to ask you out, yeah?"

"Yeah!" Kimberly agreed.

Avalon ignored her. "But then hearing that you're going on a date with Khoa is making him confused because why would you go on a date with someone you don't like?" She then paused, thinking for a moment, her face scrunching up. "Scratch that, I know that feeling exactly. Anyway, Jason doesn't seem like the type of guy that would get aggro over something like this so as long as you just explain it to him."

"But how do I do that?"

As soon as the words escaped Trini's lips, Trini leaned back against her other pillows and held the one she was clutching up over her face. She was pretty sure she was blushing. Why was she blushing? She didn't like him _that_ much, did she? _Oh my God, I do,_ she realized. Then it all made sense. Whenever she thought of Jason romantically, or at least tried to talk to him with the conversation turning that way she became flustered—much like she did when going out with Richie. But when talking or thinking about him platonically she felt completely at ease.

Her nerves were really starting to show.

But it didn't look like the Pink or Orange rangers noticed for Avalon returned Trini's comment with, "Uh…you talk to him?"

"Clearly that's not working if Jason won't really let her talk," Kimberly pointed out. She rested her chin in her hand. "But that's just like Jason. He can be sweet and really nice, and likes to make sure others are happy. But sometimes that closes him off from explanations and new experiences. I mean, have you noticed that he hasn't really ever been on a date?"

"I believe it," Avalon remarked.

"That's just because you guys get on each other's nerves."

"He makes it easy, mate, it's not my bloody fault."

Then Kimberly zeroed in on what Trini said and she practically screamed before getting to her feet and jumping up and down, jostling Trini and Avalon around the bed. Trini was suddenly glad that her parents weren't home. They were nice to Kimberly, but they always had something to say about her when she left. Mostly about her over-excitement and how she was never reserved. But that's what Trini loved about Kimberly, she never held anything back and was always willing to do anything once. Avalon was very much the same way, a lot more rebellious and risk-taking than the two girls, willing to try anything daring, though her sarcastic streak was something Trini quickly had to get used to.

Kimberly and Avalon bickered every now and then but the three girls got along in a great group of friends within their group of friends. And it was always great to have another girlfriend around when they had their fill of the guys so that they could branch off when the time as needed.

But Trini definitely was feeling for her hearing as Kimberly continued to scream.

"You just admitted it," she cried. "I knew it! You like Jason!" She pointed at Trini as she bounced, making Avalon burst out laughing. She rolled onto her back, holding her arms to her stomach.

"Okay, okay. Fine." Trini grabbed Kimberly's arm and dragged her back down to the bed as all three girls collapsed into laugher. Trini rested her head on Kimberly's shoulder as Avalon stretched out, resting her head on Trini's stomach and her legs across Kimberly's lap. "I admit it. I kind of…sort of like him." She felt her face enflame, finally admitting the words out loud.

"I knew it," Kimberly sang.

"You think anyone standing next to each other likes each other, Pinkerbell," Avalon pointed out. She picked at her nails.

Kimberly shook her head. "She doesn't know how glorious the world is when you're in love."

"Wait." Trini's eyebrows came together. "You're in love with Tommy? Like, actually in love with him?"

"We're not talking about me, right now, Tree, we're talking about you," Kimberly pointed out. She reached out her finger and poked Trini in the cheek, making her giggle and turned her head away. "You and the love you have for Jasoooon." Kimberly then moved her hands down, resting them on Avalon's legs. "But seriously, though, what are you going to do?"

"I guess I'll just tell him," Trini said, sounding more confident than she felt. "Tell him how I feel and how he feels the same way."

"He feels the same way, Trini, we can tell," Avalon said. "And even if he didn't, he's not so much of a boofhead to stop being friends with you if that's what you're worried about."

It's what she was worried about, but not the most important thing she was worried about. The elephant in the room was Khoa, of course and…and how she didn't know him, how he didn't seem to understand her, how different they were…That could be handled. The part of him turning her down or things not working out scared her more than anything else. Why would she want to lose one of the greatest friendships she ever had for a relationship that may or may not work out?

But…the way he smiled at her made her knees weak and made her forget everything she was talking about. It was a wonder she was able to stay so composed around him. She must've been a better faker than she thought if he hadn't said anything about it. _Or maybe he's just as shy,_ she realized.

"If I ever went out with Jason, Khoa would be _really_ mad," Trini said instead.

Avalon snorted. "He can fucking get over it."

"Yeah, that's not something you even want. Soon your parents and his parents will understand and you can keep dating as much as you want," Kimberly added.

Trini sighed and sat up. She looked over Kimberly's and Avalon's faces, waiting for their reactions. "When I came back from the ranger fight last time, he was _really_ mad that I lied to sneak out. And even madder when I lied about what we were doing. He kind of…well, he didn't hurt me or anything but he grabbed me pretty hard."

Kimberly snickered. "I'd love to see what happens when he does actually try to bully you. You'd kill him faster than he could blink." Avalon laughed again. Then Kimberly sat up and put her arm around Trini's shoulders. "Don't worry about Khoa, Trini. You're one of the strongest, most independent people I know. And if Khoa doesn't get that now, then he will. You make your own decisions and no one can take that from you." She leaned in and gave her friend a kiss on the cheek.

Trini smiled.

"Besides, if he ever _did_ do something to you, I think we all know Tommy, Billy, Jason, _and_ Zack will all let him know how bloody bad of an idea it was," Avalon said. She thought for a moment, tapping her chin. "I wonder if it would count for Zordon's don't escalate a fight rule."

"I think even Zordon would be able to let that one go," Kimberly giggled.

Trini laughed, too. "Can you imagine Alpha getting in on the fight?"

"I think I'd prefer to see what he'd do if Kim ever go ta hold of him," Avalon said.

The image alone made the three girls burst out into even more laughter. Then the conversation switched to the latest movies they'd seen and Trini sat up straight, dropping her pillow into her lap. She rested her elbows on the pillow and her chin in her hands.

There was nothing she needed more than a good laugh.

Not to take her mind off Khoa, but because it made her feel a little bit better about talking everything through with Jason.

How funny that she was more afraid of his rejection than her impending marriage.

* * *

 **A/N:** Don't worry, the rest of the rangers are going to be important to Trini's story, too. But Trini, Jason, and Khoa are the main-main characters. And awww, some girl hanging out time. I haven't written that in a long time. Hope you all enjoyed it.

 **~Av**


	6. Chapter 6

"Sorry, I don't believe it." Jason leaned back against the side of the garage, his palms scraping against the concrete. He watched as Zack grabbed the basketball that bounced back off the rim towards him. He spun it in his hands and turned to Jason, who nodded earnestly. Again, Zack shook his head. "No, I just don't."

"I was right there when he said it," Jason insisted. "They're going out on a date this weekend."

"Okay." Zack pressed his lips together. "But you're acting like this is something she actually _wants_ to do."

"I have faith in the fact that Trini makes her own decisions, Zack," Jason said. He let out a long breath of air, eyes scanning the street in front of him. It was quiet, and while he enjoyed silence every now and then, he preferred the sound of Zack racing up and down the driveway taking shots to the way he was now looking at him. Like he was stupid. "She said, verbatim—"

"—Verbatim?" Zack repeated, making a face.

Jason ignored him. "—She's not interested in him, it's because of the arranged marriage thing, and that she doesn't want to disappoint anyone." He looked away. "I guess she didn't realize how much it disappointed me." Devastated was the better word. Not to be melodramatic, he was never one that considered getting to into his emotions. He was just too controlled for that sort of thing. But it still hurt.

He'd liked Trini for a while. He's admired her long before realizing his feelings went further than just being friends. She was strong in her own peaceful way and it was something he'd wished he was able to do. He couldn't restrain himself as well as Trini could; an inkling of something that would set him off, he did his best to keep down but his temper got the best of him from time to time. Her presence calmed him down, whether in battle or not, and he now knew for sure he took it for granted.

"Dude, you're more than disappointed, you're lovesick," Zack commented. He passed the ball over to Jason and he quickly pulled his hands out from behind his back and caught it before it smacked him in the face. "You've been in love with Trini for how long now? A couple of years?"

"I don't know if 'love' is the right word—"

"—And I've had to sit back and listen to it. Why? Because I'm your best friend. And I'm telling you, man, if you don't try to make a move now, then you won't get anywhere."

"Zack." Jason tried to stay calm. Even saying the words out loud irritated him. "She's getting married."

"We don't know that," Zack insisted. "She hardly even likes this guy. And besides, Khoa isn't right for her. He follows everything his parents say and I bet he hasn't had an original thought in his head since he was born. He doesn't care that his life is being made for him. That's not the kind of guy Trini needs or wants. She wants someone who can make his own decisions but is still respectable of everyone around them." Zack jabbed his finger into Jason's shoulder. "That's you."

Jason, still, was skeptical. A part of him believed what Zack was saying, it was all that he'd ever thought. But to actually _see_ the guy who was his, unofficial, competition? That was harder. Trini had mentioned from time to time that her parents could be controlling, that they only wanted her to date a Vietnamese man. She had kept her relationship with Richie a secret and even that almost killed him. He'd seen the way Trini clammed up around him, how she batted her eyelashes—something he was sure Kimberly taught her—and tried her hardest to appear normal around him. And it made his heart sink. What made it even worse was that she would continuously talk to him about her relationship with Richie when she didn't talk to Kim.

She wanted a guy's perspective of the situation and he gave it to her, sitting back and watching as everything he said was what Trini took to heart and tried out. It was successful and they dated for a little while, all the while Jason did what he did best. Watched, waited, and was the shoulder for her to lean on when they inevitably broke up. And it still hurt to know that it could've been him had he opened his mouth and said something. Maybe it was all wishful thinking, but there had to be a reason they understood each other so well.

"I don't know," Jason finally said again.

" _I_ do," Zack insisted. "Ask Tommy or Billy, they'd give you the same answer." Zack placed his hand on Jason's shoulder. "Hell, even Kim, Av, or Bailey would say the same thing. We _all_ know that you two should be together, but you two and it's getting ridiculous." He started to shake Jason's shoulder but Jason winced and stepped away, bringing a hand up to rub his shoulder. He could feel a knot under his fingertips. "Dude, I barely touched you."

"It's not you. You know how I said I was sparring with Trini?"

"Yeah, and she kicked your butt."

"I also sparred with Khoa."

"He practices martial arts, too? Small world."

"Yeah, but he was doing this Vietnamese thing called Vovinam. I've never heard of it before. But he's _really_ good. Some of the moves he did, I couldn't see them coming." He thought back to how he had been sparring with Khoa, how they both managed to knock each other to the ground. That wasn't the part that stuck in his mind, no, it was the look on Khoa's face as they sparred.

When Jason sparred or trained with his friends, or even when he was teaching his martial arts classes, they all had expressions of concentration on their faces. But in their eyes, he could see they were enjoying themselves as they worked. With Khoa, he saw absolutely nothing. There was nothing in his eyes, they were black pools of emptiness that offset Jason a little more than any of the monsters they'd ever faced.

But once they were finished sparring and they spoke about their different practices in martial arts, that's when Jason saw some semblance of life come back to him once more. And his eyes flashed, almost with challenge when he saw Jason's face when Trini and Khoa both confirmed the date they were going to go on that weekend.

 _Almost as if he were waiting for me to say something about it,_ Jason realized.

"Okay, let's go!"

Startled, Jason watched as Zack tucked the ball under his arm and headed towards the house. "Where are we going?"

"To the phone, you're going to call Trini and ask her out. I'm tired of listening to you bitch and moan about this and do nothing." Zack continued his lead inside and Jason followed after him. He hovered behind Zack as he went into the kitchen and set his basketball aside. He grabbed the phone and started to dial the number.

Jason reached out and grabbed onto it, putting it back into the cradle. Zack looked at him, bewildered. "What are you doing?" He demanded.

"You don't need to call the house, that's probably not a good idea," Jason explained. He took in a deep breath and pulled out his cell phone. "I'll just…call her myself." His palms immediately filled with swear. He could only put it off for so long. Zack was the impulsive sort of person that went and did things without thinking of the consequences. Jason never worked that way, he thought of everything that'd happen before he decided.

And he knew how things would turn out if they called the house. Mr. and Mrs. Kwan had always been nice to him, if not a little cold. But if they knew he was interested in dating their daughter, well…that'd be something he wasn't sure he could handle. Not when they were so set in their traditional ways as their want of Trini to marry as soon as possible.

Zack pulled himself up onto the counter and kicked his legs back and forth, waiting for the red ranger to make the call.

Jason took a couple of breaths to steady himself, then pulled out his phone and speed dialed her number. He put the phone to his ear, heart ramming against his ribcage. It rang a few times and he started to pace back and forth across the floor of the kitchen. Ring. Pace. Ring. Pace. Ring. Pace. Ring. Pace.

Finally, Jason was about to hang up when the phone was picked up. He could hear laughter in the background before Trini's breathless voice asked, "Hello?"

Jason could feel himself starting to smile. Then he cleared his throat and said as calmly as possible, "Hey Trini, how's it going?"

There was a slight pause and then Jason could hear a door close in the background and the laugher stop. She must've left her room or wherever she was so that it wouldn't be a distraction. "Hey Jason, how's it going?" Was it just him or did she sound as nervous as he did. "I mean, I'm doing well. How are you?"

"I'm doing just fine myself," Jason said. Zack rolled his eyes then waved his hands, motioning for Jason to get on with it. Jason waved his hand back at Zack then said. "Did I hear Kim and Av with you?"

"Yeah, we're just hanging out," Trini explained. He could still hear the laughter in her voice. "Listen, I'm glad you called. I wanted to see how you were doing. It looked like Khoa was, I don't know, really trying to hurt you today. Or maybe it was just me—"

"—It's fine," Jason interrupted. "I mean, he didn't hurt me. I learned a lot from him today." _If by learning a lot, you mean working out your sore muscles, then yeah._ It wasn't that Jason was in shape, but there were some of his muscles that had twisted in certain ways he hadn't felt in a long time. Not since he first met Tommy, not since a few of the stronger monsters they'd ever faced. "I didn't know Vovinam was a thing."

"Oh, yes, it's a very popular martial arts practice in Vietnam, most of my family learned it. Though I always preferred what my Uncle Howard taught me."

"Yes, he's a great teacher. He's done a remarkable job with Billy's studies. I haven't seen anyone improve so quickly."

"Billy's always been a remarkable student, too. No matter what you put in front of him, he works hard to figure out what works for him and implements it. But like you said, he improves fast. I'm always happy to see what he can do next."

"Yeah, you're right. Billy's a great student." Now Jason could see Zack rolling his eyes at the mention of their friend. They weren't supposed to be talking about him, they were supposed to be talking to each other. "Um, I wanted to call to ask you something."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, I, uh…" Jason held his breath. He couldn't do this over the phone. "Do you think we could meet up? I'd rather say this to your face then say it over the phone?"

"Yeah, I can teleport somewhere."

"We can meet at the park. I can teleport there. We can meet by the playground if that's okay with you?"

Jason then heard the smile in Trini's voice as she said, "Yeah, I can meet you there. I'll leave right now. I'll just tell Kim and Av where I'm going."

"Okay, I'll meet you. Bye, Trini."

"Bye."

Jason hung up the phone and replaced it to his pocket. He lifted a finger and pointed at Zack saying, "Don't say anything," interrupting whatever it was that he could say.

Zack held up his hands defensively. "I wasn't going to say anything, man. Meeting face to face, that's a good touch. I wouldn't have done that."

"Really?" Jason couldn't keep the skeptical snort out of his voice.

"Yeah, if it were Angela, I would've just said it on the phone. So that way I wouldn't have to look her in the face or embarrass myself in person. But you're much braver than I am." He patted Jason the shoulder. "Go get her, dude. I'm expecting a full report when you get back."

Jason finally smiled. "You know what? Sometimes, you're as bad as Kim."

* * *

Trini teleported to the park in a bright flash of yellow light. She looked around to be sure there was no one that had seen her arrival. Wouldn't that be her luck? The one time she decided to teleport out of sheer excitement and it'd end up with her secret revealed. But it was late in the day and most people were at home, no one was there to see her arrival.

As it was, Jason hadn't arrived yet either. So Trini decided to walk over to the swings and sat down. She lifted her feet and gently swung back and forth. How long had it been since the last time she just swung? A long while. She hadn't been to the park and just hung out without a monster interference in so long. She could hardly remember what it was like to be a normal teenager, the time she spent hanging out with friends right before she became a ranger was a blur. What was middle school like? She hung out with Kimberly a lot. Hung out with Jason, Zack, and Billy on more of a peripheral level. Then the later years of Middle School they started to talk more and became their own group of friends.

Bulk and Skull made it their mission then to target the group; Trini always thought it was because they were jealous. It was because they wanted nothing more than to be friends too, but didn't know how. They'd been held back in school so many times there was a big age difference between them. So much so it had to have been hard for them to fit in with anyone.

And what about Khoa? Trini didn't know him that well, but he seemed to be a good guy. He had to have some friends, but he didn't mention them. He didn't talk about himself very much. He just spoke about what they were going to do for their future. Khoa had called her right before Jason called.

To her surprise, he'd called to apologize. "I'm sorry for the way I acted today," he said. "It wasn't mature of me. I just wanted to get an idea of what Jason could do in his martial arts training. I've heard a lot about him through the newspapers."

"Yeah, Jason's cool," Trini agreed. But she didn't say more than that. She didn't know if he was being sincere, without being able to see his face, she couldn't know for sure. "He does a lot for this community, a lot for other people."

"And I didn't mean to spring our date like that," Khoa continued, as if he hadn't heard what Trini was saying. "I guess…I don't know, I got the feeling that he likes you or something."

And Trini had laughed it off. "Oh, me and Jason have known each other for years. It's not like that, it's just that we're really comfortable with each other." But she wasn't quite telling the truth when she said it. On her end, at least, there was something there. And now, maybe, it seemed like there was something on Jason's end, too…?

When had things started to get so complicated?

"You look like you're really lost in thought," Jason's voice came from her left, startling her. Trini looked to the side and noticed Jason slowly coming her way, stopping a few feet from her. She hadn't even noticed he'd arrived. "I didn't mean to interrupt."

"You didn't," Trini reassured him. She smiled. "I was just thinking."

"I can see that," Jason teased. He reached out and sat down next in the swing next to her. Pressing his feet firmly to the ground he gently pushed himself forward and back, extending and folding his leg. "You looked to be on a completely different planet."

"Then call me an alien," Trini teased back.

"I couldn't do that. You're much better than Rita."

Trini smiled, feeling her cheeks flush, and laughed along with Jason. Then they lapsed into comfortable silence. She enjoyed the silence, though was curious to know what Jason wanted. But she wasn't one to push. She learned with her mediation practices with Ian and other students that it was better not to force someone to talk. Sometimes time was all that was needed.

"So, I, uh, I called to talk about what happened today," Jason said. "I wasn't really fair with you, I left abruptly, didn't really let you talk. I apologize for that."

"No, no, I understand," Trini said quickly. She reached up and grabbed the chains of her swing, gently swinging back and forth. She looked out in front of her, the wind gently pulling her hair around her face. "It was…weird." That was the best word to explain it all. Just plain weird. "Khoa apologized to me today. He said…" she trailed off. She couldn't believe she was about to say it out loud. "He said he thought you were into me or something." Then she blanched, immediately understanding the gravity of her words. "Not that that'd be _weird_ at all, but that he thought it so quickly…I explained that we're just really comfortable with each other…"

"He apologized," Jason repeated. "For being standoffish because he thought I like you?"

Trini nodded.

And Jason was silent for a long moment, his eyebrows coming together. She had no idea what he was thinking, but something had come to his attention. Nevertheless, Jason shook his head after a minute and said, "It's not a strange thought," he said finally.

Trini's heartbeat immediately increased. She came to a stop and looked at him closely. "What's…?" Her voice escaped her when Jason looked at her, eyes intense.

"I…" Jason licked his lips, laughed a little. "I didn't realize it'd be hard to say it, but…I guess I was really confused about this whole wedding thing and your going on a date with him because I thought you didn't like him."

"I don't," Trini reminded him.

"I know. But it was hard for me to wrap my head around because…well, because I like you, Trini. Like, more than a friend. For a long time. And…and thinking that you're, now, supposed to be married to someone else, I guess it's a little selfish on my part to say it because of that. Or rather, in spite of it. I don't care that you're going to be married—" Now Jason paused, Trini had never seen him so flustered before. "I mean, I _care_ —"

"—Jason," Trini finally interrupted. He immediately fell silent. "I get it." She could feel her heart start to soar. Her hands trembled on the chains of her swing, hard enough she was sure it was visible. "It's all happening so fast. One day I remember that I'm technically engaged to this guy, but another I realize that I'm not and I still have a choice. I just…I really need to figure out a way to talk to my mom and dad about what I want and my future and how I'm the one who should make all of my decisions."

Jason smiled and nodded.

Silence stretched between them.

She didn't know what to say after that. Her mouth went dry. Stomach erupted into butterflies, moths, and all of the wiggling creatures that made her insides squirm. But it made her feel as great as it scared her. She'd felt something similar with Richie, but this was different. It was comfortable.

"So…what did you decide?"

Jason's voice was soft as he finally asked the question, prompting Trini to look at him. Here he was, the red ranger, the goddamned red ranger who was the fearless leader of their team for a time, had his head lowered and refused to meet her eye. A blush bloomed on his cheeks like flowers in the spring. She could see his hands shaking, trembling violently. He probably didn't notice he was doing it.

He was nervous.

And it made Trini feel better. Like their ranger duties, they were in it together.

Trini shifted her feet to the side, propelling her swing over to Jason's. Jason, finally, lifted his head and their eyes locked. They stared at each other. At the same time they smiled faintly, understanding moving between them. Again, at the same time, they leaned forward and their lips pressed together.

Gently.

Totally.

Completely.

Bliss.

* * *

 **A/N:** Am I getting character voices and personalities, right? I haven't written the rangers just as teens and not an overall ranger plot in a while so I want to be sure it's alright. Let me know what you think of the chapter. I haven't had much time to respond to reviews as of late, but I'll get back to it.

 **~Av**


	7. Chapter 7

Trini carefully stepped over a puddle that stretched out in front of her. She lifted her chin and looked around the darkened parking lot of the movie theater. She hadn't realized it'd rained. But unlike a lot of people, she enjoyed it when it did. The air hung with the humidity to envelope everything around them and the droplets of water resting on everything caught the light surrounding them, making everything glow.

Much like when it snowed—which admittedly didn't happen much in Angel Grove—rainfall made everything look shiny and new. Like it was a way to give everyone time to refresh and start over. _Or maybe,_ Trini thought. _It's because you're happy._ Happier than she'd been in the last couple of weeks. All because she'd finally, _finally_ told Jason how she felt. And, even better, he felt the same way. After constant worrying about rejection and laughter at her expense, she finally knew he felt the same way.

And…yeah, he was a _really_ good kisser. Kimberly and Avalon demanded to know everything that'd happened to between them for hours once Trini got back from the park. Every little detail. Trini couldn't help but blush as she recounted the story, embarrassed that she paid so much attention to it as well. Growing up there were many other things she had to put her attention to; school work, house work, her family, her countless activities…everything that didn't give her much time to think for herself. And now that she had it, it was all she could think about.

Maybe Khoa realized it, too. He'd been quiet the entire time they'd been at the movies. Not that there was a good chance to talk during a movie, but she'd thought they could at least talk about the movie they were going to see, school, or something else before it started, while they waited in line. Or maybe even talked about it afterwards, what their favorite and least favorite parts were. But, nothing. He continued to hold that sullen and sour expression on his face that had been there since they left the house.

Khoa had been all smiles and pleasantries for her parents when he arrived. Giving her mother a box of chocolates and her father a bottle of wine. She wasn't surprised. It was customary within their culture for the man to make sure he was formally introduced to the family before officially asking out the daughter. Khoa hadn't needed to do that step because of the familial arrangement. But it was important that he had a respectful and appropriate bond with her family before they left. He was good at that.

Trini didn't remember her mother smiling so broadly.

Then Khoa'd said they were going to the movies. Trini was surprise for a second, but then remembered it was part of the male etiquette when dating. He was to bring her gifts and flowers—and he'd brought her sunflowers, to match her smile—her mother almost squealed at that—and some candy. Then he'd explained what they would be doing that night, down to the exact time and place of their movie. He'd skipped another date, they weren't supposed to go on private dates for a while, but it was at least in a public enough space that her parents approved.

It was nice but…she didn't like her life being so structured. Being a ranger made her embrace the change that everyday could bring them and knowing that someone else, Jason, understood it made it easier to date someone like him. How hard would it be to constantly keep things quiet and a secret from Khoa the whole time? Much harder than she'd hoped it'd be.

 _Thankfully Rita seems to want to have a quiet night this time,_ Trini thought, glancing down at her communicator as it glinted in the night. She'd expected it to go off at the worst time but it was silent the entire time. She could actually enjoy the movie, even if she didn't enjoy the company of the boy beside her. At least she tried, Khoa wasn't giving much back to her.

"What'd you think of the movie?" Trini finally asked as they walked back to his car. The parking lot slowly emptied out with those from the last showing movie heading home. Their footsteps crunched over the ground as they went.

"I thought it was okay," Khoa replied. His voice was quiet, the same stern expression of concentration on his face from before.

"Same here," Trini said. "Romantic comedies are never really my thing, but this one was pretty good. Kim usually takes me along to some of the ones she wants to see when her boyfriend won't, so I've seen a lot. This one was better than the others."

"Really? I thought you weren't enjoying yourself." Now Khoa's voice was flat, subdued. Trini's eyes widened in surprise. She turned to face him, waiting for his explanation. "You were looking at your watch the entire time."

Oh! Her watch, her morpher. She'd hoped she'd been a little more discreet about it. Trini blushed under the street lights, she hoped he couldn't see it. He didn't need to feel any more embarrassed than he already did. "It's…it's not that I wasn't enjoying myself. It was that I was looking to see the time, to make sure I was home for my curfew. My parents take it very seriously."

"And you think I'd disrespect your parents like that?" Khoa asked. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans, hunched his shoulders up. "You may not like me, but I'd never do that. I'm not a bad person, Trini and I don't like it when you insinuate that I am."

Trini's jaw dropped in surprise. "I never…I never said you were disrespecting my parents." She placed a hand to her chest, curled her fingers in to clasp against the necklace that sat around her neck. She had to look a _little_ presentable for the date. "Just that _I_ didn't want to disrespect them. You're misunderstanding me."

Khoa whirled around to face her and it was then that Trini saw the fire flashing in his eyes. The same snarl that was slow to come to his face when he caught her after coming back from a ranger fight was back. He looked like he truly was angry. "I'm not misunderstanding anything," he hissed. "I've been the most understanding and patient person I could be in this circumstance. I get that you're not so keen on the idea of getting married but I thought you understood it was something we have to do. I thought you got the picture after I caught you lying to your parents!"

Trini opened her mouth to respond but Khoa's hand whipped up. Her words of protest died on her lips as a sound of surprise replaced it. Her cheek stung, her eyes watered. He'd hit her. He'd actually hit her. Slapped her across the face with an open palm.

She'd never been hit before. Not even her parents had done it and she knew it was rampant in their lives when they grew up. They'd promised they'd never raise a hand to her. And Khoa had just slapped her without a second thought. Trini lowered her hand from her cheek and glared at Khoa.

"Take me home," she said.

She started to round to the passenger side of the car, but Khoa grabbed her arm and wrenched it behind her. Using his body weight, he spun the two around and slammed them into the car. Trini glared even fiercer and started to use her body weight back against him. It was simple. All she had to do was get leverage on her feet and she could take him down. She'd one it with enough putties, monsters, and her friends when they were sparring. It shouldn't be hard. But she couldn't find her footing.

Trini fruitlessly kicked her legs back and forth. She couldn't even get her feet against the side of the car. Then she looked into Khoa's eyes and saw something flash in them, saw his lips curl up into a smug smile. He'd known what she was going to do and used his own martial arts skills against her. How had he known? She racked her brain, trying to figure it out. It was easy, she, Jason, and anyone else who'd practiced knew that as long as your feet were able to ground you, to give you leverage, you had the advantage.

He had to know it, too.

Pain erupted in Trini's shoulder as her arm continued to be painfully turned around at an odd angle. "Khoa, let me go!"

"You don't make the decisions," he hissed into her face. "And you don't get to embarrass me time and time again. I won't allow it!"

Trini sucked in a deep breath, tried to steady her voice. "We can talk about it, but please…"

"No!" Khoa tightened his grip on Trini's arm, painfully digging his fingers into her. "You don't get to make the decisions, I do." He looked at her with disgust. "Do you know how hard it is to pretend to be happy and doting with your parents when you embarrass me so much?"

"Wh…what'd I do?" Trini squeezed her eyes shut. But they popped open again when Khoa snarled, "I saw you kiss him!" Her blood ran cold. He'd seen her kiss Jason. "You're supposed to be my wife and you're kissing another man. And you say _I'm_ disrespecting _your_ family!" He shoved Trini hard to the ground. "When you're the one that's the slut."

Trini rolled over, tried to push herself up. She tried to glare again, but the power behind it was failing. "I'll tell," she said. "I'm going to tell my mom and dad what you're doing to me."

Khoa looked back at her with a raised eyebrow. "And why would they believe you? They'd just think you're not ready to get married." His voice took on an air of innocence and Trini knew he was practicing. "I haven't seen Trini in years, I really wanted to see our friendship progress. Why would I hurt her like that? Why would she _lie_ about me like that?" Then the innocent voice dropped as fast a water rushing down a drain. "You've protested against this marriage so much already…"

Trini's eyes shifted back and forth. Was he telling the truth? Would her parents not believe her? They _were_ very strong on their beliefs of the arranged marriage. She pressed her hand against the ground, rocks digging into her palm as she tried to get up. Her shoulder and arm throbbed with her increased heartbeat.

"Do you seriously want to be the one to singlehandedly ruin your entire family?" Trini pressed his lips together. She didn't know what to think. Her head swam, trying to make sense of everything. "For God's sake, get off the ground." He stepped over to Trini and moved to grab her, making Trini shy away. Then he grasped her arm and carefully pulled her up. Trini pulled her arm from his grasp, cradling it against her chest with her free hand and inched to the passenger side of the car.

She got inside, buckled and turned away from Khoa, mind completely blank. She didn't even notice when Khoa got back into the car and drove to her house until he pulled the car to a stop. Then he turned off the engine and stuck the keys in his pocket and turned to face her.

"I'm really sorry for what happened, Trini," he apologized. "I never meant to hurt you like that." He reached out to touch her shoulder then stopped, moving his hand to her hair instead. "I just wanted you to understand how upset I was. But I went too far. I'm really sorry." His voice was low, almost sounding sincere. Trini didn't quite believe him. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, his face was twisted into an expression of shame.

He was waiting for her response.

 _What'll he do if I don't say anything?_ The thought crossed her mind seconds before she said, "I…I just want to go home."

"We are home, Trini."

"Thank you."

Trini climbed out of the passenger seat and walked up the front walk to her house. Khoa walked along beside her, even as she entered the house. Mr. Kwan was sitting on the couch, reading the never ending newspaper when they went inside. He set it aside and pulled off his glasses to ask with a smile, "How was your night? How was the movie?"

Trini's tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth, suddenly dry. But Khoa had no problems saying, "It was a really good movie. Definitely appropriate for what we wanted to see. I had a great time."

Mr. Kwan looked at Trini expectedly. "Me too," she agreed. Then he noticed her holding her arm. "What happened?"

"Oh…some kid in the seat behind me kept kicking me," she explained. "He hurt my shoulder."

"But don't worry, Mr. Kwan, I told him off," Khoa said. His chest nearly puffed up with pride.

"I hope he got the message then."

Khoa's eyes flashed over to Trini. "Loud and clear."

* * *

Trini slowly raised her arm to pull her jean jacket over her shoulders. Then she abandoned it halfway through, tossing the jacket to her bed. It was no use. She wasn't going to get her arm above her head higher than half way. It hurt too much. Khoa had really done a number to her.

When she woke up that morning, she'd hoped it all had been a dream. But the moment she moved to get out of bed, alarm bells went firing off as her arm blazed with fire radiating from her shoulder. Hard to believe it was from a regular human this time rather than a monster. Monsters thrashed her back and forth day after day but humans were the ones who were supposed to be nice to each other.

 _There was nothing nice about the way Khoa treated you last night,_ Trini reminded herself. She could still feel the bad energy from it, it hadn't shaken her from the night before. Letting out a long breath, Trini sat in the middle of the floor, folded her legs and meditated.

She breathed in and out as many times as it took before everything around her relaxed and she was at peace, pushing the thought of Khoa away. The weekend was over, she was going to school, she could forget about him. With renewed vigor, Trini finished mediating and went through a few practices moves that she did every morning to get her energy going, greeted good morning to her passed relatives, and finished getting ready for school.

She had just decided to not wear her jacket when she heard Jason's car horn from outside. For a moment, she wondered if it really was Jason coming to get her, and not Khoa. But she peered out the window and saw his familiar red sports car and relaxed even further. It was just Jason. Things were going to be okay.

Trini ran almost as fast as a saber-tooth tiger as she hurried down the house, grabbed her lunch, and went out the front door. Jason's smile almost matched hers as she climbed into the passenger seat. They smiled at each other and looked away.

They'd kissed. Okay. So what were they supposed to do now?

Jason broke the silence by turning on the radio and Trini sank back in her seat. Perfect, they didn't need to talk about it. "So did you finish Ms. Appleby's take home quiz?"

"Yeah," Trini said. Her smile widened. School work, she could talk about that. Jason always knew what to do in any given situation and at the moment she loved him for it.

"How do you think you did?"

"I think I got an A," Trini said.

"Plus," Jason corrected her. "An A plus. You never do badly on any of your tests and quizzes. You're almost as bad as Billy, but the difference is that when Billy gets good grades he's actually modest about them."

Trini laughed. "Hey, I'm modest!"

"I don't think waving your test in Zack's and my faces is modest, Tree," Jason pointed out.

"That's only because I had to show you boys what happened when you studied and didn't' scope out babes all weekend," Trini teased back. She poked him on the arm, the tip of her finger jabbing into his bicep. "Is that what you did this weekend, too?"

"No." Jason shook his head. "I was busy thinking."

"About what?"

"About this amazing girl that I kissed." Jason slowly started to smile. A blush came to Trini's cheeks and she lifted her shoulder—her good one—to hide it. "And how much I really enjoyed the kiss." Then her nose wrinkled. "Well, other than her bad breath. I could've gone without that." He laughed, deflecting her hand when Trini tried to punch him for the comment.

Jason pulled up into the parking lot and cut off the car, but didn't immediately get out. He lowered his gaze and took in a deep breath before saying, "I don't know if you're interested, but there's a cultural festival going on at the park this weekend and I was wondering if you'd like to go."

Trini tapped her finger against her chin, pretending to think about it. "Well, I might have the time. I don't know."

"I mean, go with me," Jason said with a smirk. "Like a date."

"In that case…" Trini leaned in and surprised him with a kiss. It was fun to do that, she realized, noting the surprised expression on his face seconds before she closed her eyes. "I'd love to," she said, pulling back. Just in case he wasn't sure.

Jason beamed and climbed out of the car. Trini did the same and it wasn't until she passed the side mirror that she realized she was smiling as big as he was. Closing the door, she looked up as Zack just joined their friends on the front steps of the school. She hadn't realized they'd already arrived.

Even as Jason and Trini walked up to their friends, careful not to hold hands or show anything out of the ordinary, Zack cupped his hands around his mouth and let out a mocking taunt, making their fiends laugh. Okay, so they knew.

"Yeah, yeah," Jason said. He dropped his backpack and punched Zack on the shoulder. "Get your jokes out now."

"Hey, just as long as you didn't dance around it as long as those two," Zack motioned to Tommy and Kimberly—making Kimberly lean into Tommy, wrap her arms around his waist, and stick her tongue out at Zack. "We're good."

"I don't know," Avalon rested her chin in her hands. "Are we going to listen to you lot make nauseating pet names for each other?"

"Like Rudolph isn't nauseating enough?" Jason shot back.

Avalon smiled and shot him the finger. "I'm kidding, mate, we're all happy for you two. I reckon we would've had a bet going soon if you didn't say anything, yeah?" She lifted a hand. "I would've thought you'd hold out at least until Christmas."

"Why Christmas?" Tommy asked.

"It'd be romantic," Avalon said.

Kimberly untangled herself from Tommy and wrapped her arms around Avalon's shoulders. "Aww, you _do_ have a heart."

"For her sister, animals, and things that are smaller than her, yes," Billy said. "Anything else and I think you'd be out of luck." He laughed when Avalon glared at him then turned to Trini. His brows came together and his blue eyes shifted up and down her arm. "What happened?" Billy asked. He pointed to her. Trini looked down and frowned noticing that where Khoa had grabbed her the night before had turned an ugly brown color. She should've noticed that morning, but the pain from her shoulder had been more prevalent. "That looks like you've had a nasty fall."

"Oh," Trini said, as if just noticing it for the first time. She smiled up at Billy. "I must have."

And all she had to do was make sure Khoa didn't find out about her date with Jason so it didn't happen again.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you all for the continued support and I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter. Surprise! I got the next one up pretty quick!

 **~Av**


	8. Chapter 8

_What happened?" Billy asked. He pointed to her. Trini looked down and frowned noticing that where Khoa had grabbed her the night before had turned an ugly brown color. She should've noticed that morning, but the pain from her shoulder had been more prevalent. "That looks like you've had a nasty fall."_

 _"Oh," Trini said, as if just noticing it for the first time. She smiled up at Billy. "I must have."_

Trini frowned as she thought about how easily she had lied to Billy. The words came from her lips quicker than she thought they could. Bubbled out with the ease of water flowing down a drain. Her emotions went with it after that. She could feel her heart hammering against her ribcage with shame.

She didn't lie.

Never lied.

Not unless she had to.

She lied to her parents about being a ranger. Lied to those she had grown closer to over the years about her activities that had her running away at a moment's notice. She had to. No one would be safe had she had gone and said, "I'm the Yellow Power Ranger." Honestly, she wasn't sure if anyone would've believed her anyway. None of them were sure. Zack had made an offhand comment about it in the Youth Center once and it caused a massive conversation about who the rangers really were and what they were doing for the city.

Funny how all those teens—their classmates—and Ernie had their own opinions but couldn't see the smirks the rangers shared. Funny how none of them knew the rangers were sitting right with them, inconspicuously drinking their smoothies and chiming in every now and then who was the better ranger. Of course, they used it to feed their own egos. But Jason had never been like that. He'd never said the red ranger was the best one.

"I think none of the rangers would be able to protect the city as well as they do without working as a team," was all he said…before receiving a round of thumbs down from his friends, Zack going as far as to blow a raspberry as well. Then Jason would laugh along with them, but every time the conversation would come up he'd say the same thing. Zack and Tommy tried to goad him into admitting he thought he was better than them, but Jason would never take the bait.

He was that way in public, but in private Trini had heard him joke every now and then that without the rest of the team, he would've been just fine. She'd point out that Goldar had managed to thrash him time and time again as if he had forgotten. He'd just roll his eyes, but Trini knew he wouldn't forget. He'd never forget about his rival.

Trini started to smile a little. Was that pathetic? That just the thought of her upcoming date made her smile like a loon? She hadn't smiled that much in a while, now that she thought about it. Since Khoa had showed up she didn't feel like smiling so much. Just the thought of him set off her nerves. She used to be so calm and collected with almost nothing setting her off—except, maybe heights—and now she was nearly leaping out of her skin.

 _He did hit you, _the little voice in the back of his head pointed out. _And shoved you to the ground. And lied to your dad's face._

Anger flashed through Trini at that exact moment. Anger she couldn't quite hide. She clenched her hands into fists, holding them beneath her desk so no one else would see. No one had ever seen her angry either, now that she thought about it. Angry towards monsters maybe, but not in her personal life. She could get over things with calm, rational thought and conversation. That didn't mean she wasn't tough and could speak her mind, oh no.

People made that mistake time and time again.

So what was it about Khoa that was keeping her from being able to do the same thing? What was it about her parents that was keeping her from speaking her mind when she'd done it so many times before? She'd had to convince them that she wasn't becoming too lose or crazy with being Americanized. They'd gotten used to that, took it with grace, but now it was like speaking her own mind didn't exist anymore…

Trini sat up when she heard silence suddenly change around her. She glanced towards Ms. Appleby, who had taken a break in the reading she was doing from the book that was nestled in her arms. Then Trini glanced around the room to see what everyone else was doing. Bulk and Skull were snoring loudly, loud enough that Ms. Appleby surely noticed it. Over the years she had grown well versed in tuning them out.

 _Too bad we can't do the same,_ Trini thought with a small smile. It was a daily thing, really, of Bulk's and Skull's picking on them. She didn't think they were that bad, honestly. A little lonely, maybe, but not that bad. Jason and Kimberly were listening attentively to Ms. Appleby, though Trini could see Kim texting under her desk every few minutes. Or maybe she was shopping, she had that peculiar 'I'm going to buy this and this and this' look on her face she always got when she was shopping.

Tommy was busy looking through his backpack, probably trying to find his notebook or some other school supply he forgot. He'd been late to class again, too. Zack tapped his feet up and down to an invisible beat playing in his head, Billy was simultaneously taking notes of everything Ms. Appleby was saying but was also working on equations for something else—of which Trini couldn't quite place—and Avalon sat slouched in her seat, listening but her gaze focused on the pen she tapped up and down with flicks of her fingers.

They were great students but every now and then school wasn't so important to them.

"So what can you say about this poem?" Ms. Appleby asked, lifting her chin so that her gaze roved over the class. "Apart from the obvious sentiments that are being said." Silence stretched out around the room for a few seconds. Then Ms. Appleby lifted her eyebrows, a silent a warning that someone needed to say something and fast.

Multiple hands went up.

Guesses were guessed.

Still, it didn't seem like anyone was close to the answer. Poetry was always difficult, Trini found. There were so many interpretations of what was being said. She wasn't even sure if liked poetry herself. She read the written word of her ancestors as well as what was assigned to her for school but had never been able to personally connect with it. Romance poems were nice to read, they gave her a warm feeling every now and then. She remembered her and Kimberly pouring over them and wondering what it'd like to have a real boyfriend when they were younger.

But now…? It seemed nothing more than a fairytale.

Ms. Appleby's gaze swept Trini's way and she tried to look like she was paying attention. Even flashed a small smile to help her case, dimples appearing in her cheeks. Ms. Appleby nodded back then lifted the book, snapping it shut with a slap of her hand. "I understand poetry is hard to decipher, how about I recite one of her quotes instead? The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned." She paused for a second. "Maya Angelou is one of the greatest poets of all time; the way she intricately uses imagery to give intense emotion to some of the most basic human thoughts and feelings makes her a poet many can relate to."

Trini nodded, running the quote in her head over and over. It struck her for some reason, made her feel a little sad, or maybe nostalgic? She wasn't quite sure.

She should've paid closer to attention, however. Had she known what was coming for her, she might've paid more attention.

* * *

Khoa sat quietly in the driver's seat of his car, the sound of his engine echoing across the parking lot of Angel Grove High school. He glanced at the photo in his hand then back at the front of the school.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Yes, he was sure now. It was the right school.

A smile came to his lips, an evil glint to his eye. Anyone that passed his car would've thought he was merely a student who was skipping class. Nothing to question. Maybe he was waiting for classes to change so that his sneaking back in wouldn't be unnoticed. No matter what the reason was, it would be questioned later once everything hit the fan.

Once it was too late.

* * *

 **A/N:** I don't think you understand how much I'm enjoying this story, lol. I'll have it updated again soon.

 **~Av**


	9. Chapter 9

_"Ms. Appleby, may I talk to you about something?"_

 _"Of course, Trini, what can I do for you?"_

 _"Well, I wanted to talk to you about something. I don't…I don't think it's something I can tell my parents about because they're so…they're really stuck in their ways. You know how they can be sometimes when they have their parent-teacher conferences. They can be a little confused with things sometimes. But, as you know, I love them very much and I'm also very proud of being Vietnamese. But there are some things that I don't…there are some things I don't necessarily agree with."_

 _"What do you mean?"_

 _"I mean, well, I guess your reading of Maya Angelou really resonated with me. About being home. The feeling of it. I guess actually being at home hasn't been so good for me lately. There are some things my parents want that I don't and I don't know how to tell them."_

 _"What kinds of things?"_

 _"They want me to get married."_

 _"Well, I'm sure many parents want their children to get married and have families of their own."_

 _"They want to do an arranged marriage. They've decided on a husband for me and there are certain rules that we have to follow because of our culture, and…"_

 _"You don't like him?"_

 _"No. I just…I don't like him that way. I like someone else, but I can't tell my parents that because it'll be seen as disrespectful and I don't want to disappoint them. And I've known this guy for a long time, but…"_

Trini shook her head as they thought about the conversation she had with Ms. Appleby a couple of days ago. So many days ago, where things should've gotten better and yet she couldn't get it out of her head. It was good to be able to talk to someone about her problems, someone older who would understand rather than her friends. Not that she didn't love her friends, but that they weren't in the same situation, they wouldn't be able to give a good opinion rather than 'this is crazy'.

But what was to be expected. She'd never really explained what it was like in her house, either, taking in the jokes that her friends sent their way about what would happen if she didn't get an A. It didn't bother her _per se_ but having to have the conversation about how serious it was would be harder than anything else. As strong as Trini was, she didn't really like to be vulnerable in some area of her life. Thankfully, there were at least some things that were coming to take her mind off things, even for a little bit.

She'd mentioned to Kimberly the date she and Jason were going on, and Kimberly's eyes had widened in surprise. Then she'd said how she and Tommy had planned to go. Then Zack bounced over saying he was going to be taking Angela, and the next thing Trini knew, they were going as a whole group. She could tell Jason was a little bummed about it as they worked things out over lunch, and honestly, she was too.

Being able to spend some time by themselves was a good thing. Their group of friends went to school together, fought monsters together, hung out together all the time. Every now and then they split into their little groups to hang out, reinforcing their relationships and friendships with each other, but having complete one-on-one time was hard. Even as the week passed and Trini wanted nothing more than to have some time to even just study with Jason in the library Billy had found them and they wound up in a conversation about…well, Trini couldn't really remember.

She had shifted her foot to stretch out her leg and accidentally bumped into Jason's, who sat across from her. And as Billy continued to talk about whatever it was to her right, Trini lifted her gaze to silently blink her apology to Jason. Jason just smiled back. She should've noticed that flash in his eyes, that mischievous one that was typically only seen when he was hanging out with Zack or hanging out 'with the boys' that made her, Kimberly, and Avalon continue to roll their eyes about it every now and then. There was second of nothing then she felt Jason's foot bump against hers.

Trini quickly moved her foot back, thinking she was in his way, then she felt it bump again. Jason shifted his foot against the side of hers before turning it so that the bottom of his ran over the top of hers. There were too many people around for Trini to be able to let out the giggle that was rising to her lips. Instead, she flashed a look back at him and shifted her foot as well, moving it against his. Jason grinned and lowered his head, turning his attention to the notebook while he pretended to focus on what was being said.

Little things like that had helped her get through the week. Between class conversations at their lockers brought stares and whispered comments from their schoolmates. It amused Trini a little, to know that some of the envious glares from cheerleaders and other girls was because of Jason. Not that it was so strange, he'd pretended to be hers and Kimberly's boyfriend many times so that some of the stranger guys—Bulk and Skull specifically—would back off a little bit. But now that it was real, and she could tell from the way she felt around him…floaty and warm, and giddy, that it was evident on their faces.

But screw the jealous looks and the whispers, at the moment, it was one of the few things that made her happy at the moment and she would take as much time with it as she could.

"What're you smiling about?"

Trini turned away from the booth she stood in front of, one that represented Germany with their bratwurst and sauerkraut, as well as numerous gorgeous photos of the landscape and tourist attractions, to face the orange ranger, who stood beside her, hands curled up in the sleeves of her long-sleeved shirt. She hadn't realized she was smiling, but that seemed to be her default expression as of late.

Trini was about to respond, but stopped when she took in Avalon's attire. Long-sleeved shirt and long skinny jeans on what was one of the hottest days of the year. Sweat dripped down the back of Trini's light, gauzy shirt and temperature differences never really bothered her.

How was Avalon standing there with no problems in the world?

"What?" Avalon asked, finally noticing Trini's look. "I know you've got a plate of food, but you look like you want to eat me or something, yeah?"

Trini laughed at the joke. But she wasn't backing down from the subject change like Avalon tried. She was very good at deflecting questions and conversation topics when she didn't want to talk about them and must've sensed the way Trini was looking at her in that moment. "Aren't you a little hot?" She asked, motioning to her clothes.

Avalon scratched her stomach, which was visible from the bottom of her crop-topped long-sleeve shirt and shook her head. Her long brown hair bounced around her shoulders which Trini quickly realized was tied up in a different style, rather than the thick loose waves that sat around her shoulders. Part of her fringe laid over to cover her eye and she was using a little bit more makeup than usual.

It didn't take much for Trini to figure out what it was. She sucked in a deep breath and looked away for a moment before looking Avalon the eye and asking, "Have you seen Chase lately?"

Avalon's expression immediately turned hard, slightly suspicious. She took a step back and looked Trini in the face, having to tilt her chin up considering the few inches of height Trini had over her. She stared at the yellow ranger, figuring out how to answer before shrugging and saying, "It's not anything I can't handle."

And Trini sighed, turning her head away. She could always sense it, sense the change that surrounded Avalon when she saw Chase, the leader of the gang that plagued Angel Grove, of which Avalon was a part of. Since finding out, Trini and the rest of their friends tried to talk her out of being with them, giving her support so she could leave but she continued to say the same thing over again, "I can handle it."

Handle the cuts and bruises, the scrapes, and having weapons shoved into her face time and time again? And those were things coming from regular humans, much different and of an obviously different species than fighting monsters and keeping Rita from taking over the city. And every time they offered their help, Avalon turned them down.

They were just trying to help; how could she continue to try and do everything alone?

 _Hypocrite._

The word flung through Trini's head before she could stop it. How much of a hypocrite did she have to be before she listened to that voice? She wasn't saying a word of what Khoa had done to her to her friends. What was the point? She tried to justify to herself. They weren't going to be able to do anything about it. And Khoa hadn't talked to or been around Trini since then. If anything, Trini was never going to let it happen again. It was the shock that'd stopped her the last time, shock and surprise that he had even dared to touch her like that. Had dared to slap her and shove her to the ground before lying right to her father's face about how nice of a guy he was.

He was never going to do it again. The next time he lost his temper, Trini would be sure to tell him how unacceptable it was and how it wasn't fair. She had her own reasons to keep it quiet. _Just like Avalon does,_ she reminded herself before smiling and shaking her head, changing the subject back to what they'd been talking about before.

"This is all just so exciting," Trini explained. "I'd always been in tune to traveling and other cultures. It's fun to learn."

"Really? I'm just here for the food," Avalon teased and the girls laughed again, the tension around them immediately disappearing. She reached out and swiped a bratwurst off Trini's plate and took a large bite of it. Then her eyes shifted to the side and her eyebrows lowered in concern.

"What?" Trini asked. She looked over her shoulder, trying to find what it as that Avalon had seen, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Twisting back around she repeated her question, "What?"

"Nothing, I just thought I saw someone."

"Chase?"

At that, Avalon snorted. "Can you really imagine Chase coming to one of these things? Unless there's some sort of a gun show around here, I reckon he'd rather shoot himself in the neck, yeah?" She shook her head. "No, I thought I saw Khoa."

Trini's head whipped around as soon as his name was called, a chill rolling down her spine. Where was he? Was he coming to find her? Did he know she was on a date with Jason? The idea alone filled her with more fear than she'd ever faced with the monsters that constantly come up to attack.

How strange, a boy made her more nervous in a monster and not in a good way.

"I don't like him," Avalon's voice grabbed Trini's attention, though she continued to scan the crowd around her.

They 'd been hanging out at the cultural festival all day and it had been amazing. From art pieces to activities, the cultural information, the food, and everything in between, the rangers had some of the most fun they'd had in a long time.

So far Kimberly had even gone through five rolls of film from her disposable camera and that was since getting there that morning. There was plenty of time in the rest of the day to take some more. And Trini had smiled more than she'd done in the last couple of days. So much so that before stopping for some food—she wanted to go to Germany while Kimberly dragged the others to France—Trini's face stared to hurt.

"Who?"

"Khoa. I don't like him."

 _That makes two of us._ Trini though to say it out loud but decided not to, knowing the karma would come back to bite her. And she fully believed in karma, if you did good things, good things happened to you. If you did bad things with the worst intentions, it'd come back to get you. She didn't like Khoa at all, her opinion of him slowly dwindling as the days went by. If she said anything about it out loud she knew it'd get back to him in some way. If she told her parents, if his parents found out, if _he_ found out…she'd be ostracized, pushed aside, maybe even beaten again.

 _"It's…it's not that I wasn't enjoying myself. It was that I was looking to see the time, to make sure I was home for my curfew. My parents take it very seriously."_

 _"And you think I'd disrespect your parents like that?" Khoa asked. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans, hunched his shoulders up. "You may not like me, but I'd never do that. I'm not a bad person, Trini and I don't like it when you insinuate that I am."_

 _Trini's jaw dropped in surprise. "I never…I never said you were disrespecting my parents." She placed a hand to her chest, curled her fingers in to clasp against the necklace that sat around her neck. She had to look a_ _little_ _presentable for the date. "Just that_ _I_ _didn't want to disrespect them. You're misunderstanding me."_

 _Khoa whirled around to face her and it was then that Trini saw the fire flashing in his eyes. The same snarl that was slow to come to his face when he caught her after coming back from a ranger fight was back. He looked like he truly was angry. "I'm not misunderstanding anything," he hissed. "I've been the most understanding and patient person I could be in this circumstance. I get that you're not so keen on the idea of getting married but I thought you understood it was something we have to do. I thought you got the picture after I caught you lying to your parents!"_

 _Trini opened her mouth to respond but Khoa's hand whipped up. Her words of protest died on her lips as a sound of surprise replaced it. Her cheek stung, her eyes watered. He'd hit her. He'd actually hit her. Slapped her across the face with an open palm._

 _She'd never been hit before. Not even her parents had done it and she knew it was rampant in their lives when they grew up. They'd promised they'd never raise a hand to her. And Khoa had just slapped her without a second thought. Trini lowered her hand from her cheek and glared at Khoa._

 _"Take me home," she said._

 _She started to round to the passenger side of the car, but Khoa grabbed her arm and wrenched it behind her. Using his body weight, he spun the two around and slammed them into the car. Trini glared even fiercer and started to use her body weight back against him. It was simple. All she had to do was get leverage on her feet and she could take him down. She'd one it with enough putties, monsters, and her friends when they were sparring. It shouldn't be hard. But she couldn't find her footing._

 _Trini fruitlessly kicked her legs back and forth. She couldn't even get her feet against the side of the car. Then she looked into Khoa's eyes and saw something flash in them, saw his lips curl up into a smug smile. He'd known what she was going to do and used his own martial arts skills against her. How had he known? She racked her brain, trying to figure it out. It was easy, she, Jason, and anyone else who'd practiced knew that as long as your feet were able to ground you, to give you leverage, you had the advantage._

 _He had to know it, too._

 _Pain erupted in Trini's shoulder as her arm continued to be painfully turned around at an odd angle. "Khoa, let me go!"_

 _"You don't make the decisions," he hissed into her face. "And you don't get to embarrass me time and time again. I won't allow it!"_

 _Trini sucked in a deep breath, tried to steady her voice. "We can talk about it, but please…"_

 _"No!" Khoa tightened his grip on Trini's arm, painfully digging his fingers into her. "You don't get to make the decisions, I do." He looked at her with disgust. "Do you know how hard it is to pretend to be happy and doting with your parents when you embarrass me so much?"_

 _"Wh…what'd I do?" Trini squeezed her eyes shut. But they popped open again when Khoa snarled, "I saw you kiss him!" Her blood ran cold. He'd seen her kiss Jason. "You're supposed to be my wife and you're kissing another man. And you say_ _I'm_ _disrespecting_ _your_ _family!" He shoved Trini hard to the ground. "When you're the one that's the slut."_

 _Trini rolled over, tried to push herself up. She tried to glare again, but the power behind it was failing. "I'll tell," she said. "I'm going to tell my mom and dad what you're doing to me."_

 _Khoa looked back at her with a raised eyebrow. "And why would they believe you? They'd just think you're not ready to get married." His voice took on an air of innocence and Trini knew he was practicing. "I haven't seen Trini in years, I really wanted to see our friendship progress. Why would I hurt her like that? Why would she_ _lie_ _about me like that?" Then the innocent voice dropped as fast a water rushing down a drain. "You've protested against this marriage so much already…"_

 _Trini's eyes shifted back and forth. Was he telling the truth? Would her parents not believe her? They_ _were_ _very strong on their beliefs of the arranged marriage. She pressed her hand against the ground, rocks digging into her palm as she tried to get up. Her shoulder and arm throbbed with her increased heartbeat._

 _"Do you seriously want to be the one to singlehandedly ruin your entire family?" Trini pressed his lips together. She didn't know what to think. Her head swam, trying to make sense of everything. "For God's sake, get off the ground."_

"Were you looking for me?" Jason asked, coming into Trini's field of vision. He gave a surprised laugh when Trini wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug, feeling her insecurities immediately fall away. "I'll take that as a 'yes'."

"What a coincidence Rudolph, we were just talking about you," Avalon said. She placed her hands on her hips and smirked. "We were just saying how we were in need of one of Santa's reindeer."

"Yeah, well, at least I'm wanted," Jason shot back. Trini laughed when Avalon rolled her eyes, letting out a low 'ow' beneath her breath. "Anyway, Billy was looking for you." Trini's smile widened when she saw the annoyed expression on Avalon's face immediately switch to a much calmer, more relaxed one. She wasn't quite sure what it was about the blue ranger that the orange ranger gravitated to, but they did tend to pair off that way.

Jason and Zack were a pair, Kimberly and Trini were a pair, and Billy had, in a way, been by himself until Avalon and her sister moved to Angel Grove. They both were loners and as far as Trini could see, Billy _did_ tend to treat her a little differently than he treated Kimberly and Trini. Not to mention Billy was the one that Avalon rarely teased and picked on, at least not to the extent the others got.

"Then I won't protrude on your outing any further," Avalon said. She did a mock bow and took a couple of steps back, much like a court jester leaving the king's quarters before walking away, breaking into a jog when she spotted the rest of their friends.

Trini moved to follow her but Jason brought his hand down from her lower back, where he had placed his arms when she hugged him, and grabbed her hand. She felt their palms press together and warmth immediately radiated up her arm, filling her body. Everything about Khoa went away, completely slipped form her mind and she relaxed.

"So, let's check this place out before the peanut gallery gets back here," Jason said, with lighthearted teasing to his friends. "I really wanted to spend the day with you, anyway." As soon as the words came from his mouth, Jason's skin color deepened and he cleared his throat, turning his head away as if suddenly unable to look her in the eye.

"I did, too," Trini agreed. She squeezed his hand. "Let's go."

And for the next two hours, Jason and Trini walked around the cultural fair, taking in each and everything that was presented to them, hand in hand. Trini'd always thought Tommy's and Kimberly's insistence of being around each other was very sweet, and knew everyone was somewhat jealous they didn't have what they did. And now she got it. She understood how amazing it was to know the person she'd crushed on for so long enjoyed her the same way. That he _wanted_ to be around her and to hold her hand.

It was like a dream come true.

What made it better was when Jason had leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. Just because, he'd said when Trini asked him about it. SO much that when she leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek much later, as a way to thank him for paying for some more of the things that they'd gotten over the course of the afternoon. But nothing was better than when he saw her looking at an amber choker.

It was beautiful; a black satin sash that went around her neck complete with a teardrop shaped gem hanging off that would fall to the hollow of her throat. Trini couldn't keep her eyes off it, even skipping over the earrings, which were her favorite pieces of jewelry. Jason watched her face as she studied the choker and decided right then and there to buy it.

Trini tried to talk him out of it, it was too expensive, he'd already paid for their food, let her at least get it. But he'd thought nothing of it and handed over the money before she could protest any further. And she was so excited, so grateful, so _thankful,_ that she couldn't help but throw her arms around Jason's shoulders and kiss him.

They'd kissed twice so far. Both of those times had been soft, almost shy. This time, it was filled with more passion. Jason recovered from his surprise quick, bringing his hands up to cup Trini's face, kissing her back. Trini's insides warmed as if she had just drank a cup of hot chocolate, starting from her feet and filled her up to the tips of her ears. Felt like she was standing on a cloud, that the ground had given away and she was just free falling.

And it was perfect.

Nothing else compared to that moment that day.

The best part was Khoa never showed up.

And for once Trini could relax and just live in the moment.

She took as much advantage of it as she could.

* * *

 **A/N:** Awww, a nice chapter for Jason and Trini. It was sweet, wasn't it? Plenty more coming up. I think this story may end with 20 chapters or so. But I've been updating a bit more than usual so keep an eye out for when new chapters come in.

 **~Av**


	10. Chapter 10

_I'm writing this down just in case. I don't know if it's anything I need to be worried about, but…you never know. I might be freaking out over nothing but I needed to make sure I'm not going crazy. Maybe I'll write back later and explain more but…_

 _I think Khoa broke into my house._

 _Into my house and my room specifically._

 _Let me start at the beginning. It always helps me to figure out my problems, by listing things numerically and in order. It's sort of helping here but I don't think I'd feel better until all of this is done._

 _I'd come back from the fair the happiest I'd been in a long time. Or at least the happiest since I met Khoa. Jason makes me feel really happy, he makes me feel safe. Ranger powers aside, he makes me feel the safest. I guess I've always felt that way. I go to him whenever I have a problem, more often than the others. There's just some things I can share easier with him than I can with anyone else. And it's the most amazing feeling I've ever felt. That's the part my mom and dad don't understand about why I don't like the idea of an arranged marriage. I don't have that feeling of total comfort with Khoa._

 _If I can't tell him I'm a ranger, I can't trust him and he can't trust me._

 _I don't trust him._

 _I trust Jason and Kim and Tommy and Zack and Billy and Avalon and Bailey._

 _That trust was further broken when I got home from the fair. My mom and dad didn't say anything to me that would've made me suspicious. They asked me if we had a good time at the fair. I said we did. They didn't know I was going to be there with Jason, so that was good. Actually, it was a little fun to know I was keeping that secret from my mom and dad. Like it was against their rules and I was rebelling in some way. Stupid, I know, but compared to the pressure they've put on me, it was a good feeling. I could feel my soul cleansing a little, if that makes any sense._

 _Anyway, I went to my room and immediately felt that something was off. I can sense things, I've always been able to, and I sensed something in my room was wrong. I still feel that. But the thing is, I can't tell if anything was moved. I know something happened in my room but I can't be sure what. Nothing in my bed, dresser, or shelves were messed up. Everything was in its place…except one thing._

 _I have dolphin figurines I collect and they're arranged on my dresser. All of my friends know I collect them, I love dolphins. No one else knows. I looked over them and felt a bad…presence as I looked at them. It's weird, I looked them over and had a bad feeling. But the eeriest thing was that one of them was in a different position than I usually have it…I think. I can't know for sure. I don't look over my dolphins every day. But it was out of place, moved in a funny way._

 _I can easily explain it; my mom comes in to check how I clean my room nearly every day. She might've moved something. It was her answer when I asked her about it that made me shudder even more, that made me think Khoa might've had something to do with it._

 _"Mom, did you clean my room today?" I asked her. Or maybe I shouted or snapped at her. My mom gave me a harsh glare and said that I needed to speak slower and in Vietnamese. I guess I was so freaked, I was speaking English. So I repeated my question in Vietnamese._

 _Then my mom shook her head and said, "I did not look today. I don't look on the weekends, just on the weekdays."_

 _And my dad asked, "Is there anything wrong, Trinity?"_

 _"I was just wondering if someone was in my room. I don't know, I felt something…"_

 _My mom nodded and said, "We went out to dinner and when we came back we felt a presence. So we burned incense and offered prayers. You're probably feeling nothing more than the leftover presence."_

 _And I nodded and agreed._

 _But I don't think so._

 _I think it was him. I can't prove it but I think it was. I have to see him soon and I'm going to confront him with him hurting me. And that we can be friendly with each other for our families, but that I want nothing more to do with him. I'll explain to my parents._

 _I owe it to myself._

Trini put her pen into the middle of her book and closed it. She tucked it beneath her pillow and leaned back against it, looking at the ceiling. She brought her hand up to the necklace that sat around her neck, the one Jason had bought her, and smiled.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hey guys, I'm back! I'm sorry I've been around for a while but I'm back. While I was gone I've thought of some other Powerless stories, but ones with the rangers as a group, though they're all part of the powerless series. To make it easier to understand; stories like this that are individual of the rangers will have their own titles, ones that are about the group will be (from now on) titled _Powerless II_ and on and on as the stories go on.

I hope you're excited for those and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

 **~Av**


	11. Chapter 11

How long had it been since Khoa and the Nguyen's came into Trini's life? She wasn't quite sure, a few months, maybe three. No matter how much time passed, it felt like an eternity. No matter how good of a day Trini had before, she woke up to the sinking feeling that no matter what happened, Khoa was going to be a part of her life.

She could go an entire week without seeing him, but not without talking _about_ him. Her parents talked about him and his family, the wedding that was going to happen, what it meant for the both of them, what it meant for their families…it was haunting her and slowly turning her into another person. Trini put all of her anger and frustration into the monsters Rita and Zedd would send down for them to fight. Using her Saber-Tooth Tiger and Griffin Thunderzord powers to fend them off.

And there had been enough of them that the rangers were slowly starting to become worn out. A day didn't go by that they didn't have a monster coming up for at least the first round of a fight. Not to mention having to balance it all with school and making excuses as to why she was late or where she was going. It was easier to do it when she was at the Youth Center or at school, but being around her parents constantly…

It made it that much harder. The first time Trini left, she felt Khoa's eyes on her, almost daring her to say something. She remembered how he had said he'd tell on her for lying and running off the first time. And that was shortly before he started to beat her up. What was he going to do this time? The first few times, he didn't say anything, just continued to sit with their parents and speak pleasantly while she stammered out and excuse and moved out the door.

"Where is she going?" She heard Mrs. Nguyen ask.

"Oh, she's told me she's had a lot of homework to do," Khoa replied. As Trini stood by the front door, speaking quietly so she could get information from Zordon, she could hear the smug smile in his tone. "And there's some stuff at the library she put on reserve that's finally come in."

"Trini has always been so studies," Mrs. Kwan said with an obvious air of pride. "Always gotten good grades and volunteers as much as possible."

"Those are good qualities to have in a wife," Mr. Nguyen said.

Trini cringed and slipped out of the house to teleport to the Command Center. After that, she knew every time she managed to leave to go to some sort of a monster fight, Khoa was just piling it up as something to use against her.

'You have no respect for your parents', 'You have no respect for your future', 'You have no respect for the time our families are trying to put in this'.

How many of those things had he been pushing through his mind over and over again? Waiting for her to do something wrong so that he could unleash all of his anger? She'd seen him practicing martial arts against Jason before, she'd seen the power that he could exhibit when he needed to. Even in a calm state he'd managed to hurt her and Trini didn't get hurt very easily.

She'd been going out with Jason for about a month at that point and Trini was surprised with how…easily they fell into the role of dating. She thought it would be something that'd need constant communication, constant reassurance that things were okay like she'd seen in movies and TV shows she thought were so romantic. But it wasn't like that. They were so in-sync it was easy. To the point that knowing him for so long before dating made things so much easier. If they had a disagreement, like they had even when they were friends, they figured things out and talked it out and that was that.

The best part, though, was that every time they made up, they were able to kiss now. And Trini understood why Kimberly and Tommy could barely keep their hands off each other. Having the chance to be with someone like that was the most mesmerizing, intoxicating, and addictive. She loved being able to see the cute, somewhat shy smile Jason would send her way when they weren't alone, letting her know he wanted nothing more than to hold her hand or give her a kiss.

And she felt the same way. How many nights had she sat on the phone with Kimberly and Avalon talking about it? She used to tease Kimberly about her grades and being too caught up on Tommy with it, now that she knew what it was like…there was no room to judge. If there was something or someone that made you happy, why not spend as much time with it as they could? That's why Trini loved to volunteer and help other people, it nourished her soul as much as finding someone she could talk to and share everything with.

Of course it also amped up Zack's and Avalon's joking comments and teasing towards their friends. But it just made Trini laugh and take it all in stride seconds before a feeling of guilt and fear would shoot through the back of her head. How long until Khoa found out?

Surprisingly, not too long.

They had gone out to a restaurant for dinner, their parents saying everyone in their community needed to see them together as a coupe and Trini hadn't said much. She kept up appearances that everything was okay, joining the conversation when she felt it was safe to do so—their parents sure enjoyed talking to each other a lot—and Khoa seemed to be in a good mood as well. Trini didn't sense any sort of animosity from him, his smiles seemed genuine and their conversation was like the first day they reconnected, with a lot of laughter and pleasantries.

Until Khoa suggested they go outside or some air so their parents could continue talking. Trini should've known he was waiting for the right time to do something because the moment he stepped outside and spoke, her blood ran cold.

"So, did you have a good time at the World Cultures Fair?"

Did she have a good time hanging out with her friends and kissing the boy she loved to spend time with? The thought quickly rushed through her head before turning her attention back to Khoa, rising her eyebrows. And yet, as innocent as she tried to feel, her blood ran cold. "Were you there?" She asked. "My friend Avalon though she saw you."

A smile came to Khoa's lips and it wasn't a nice smile. "Yeah, I was there," he said. "And I saw you with…what's his name?" He started to snap his fingers as if he didn't know who he was thinking of. "Right, Jason. I saw you there with him." His smile was immediately gone. "I saw you kiss him. You're dating him aren't you?"

Trini blinked in surprise then anger. "Are you following me now?" She demanded.

"If I have to."

He admitted it so quickly that it took Trini by surprise. Then anger surged through her body and she clenched her hands into fists. This was the last straw. She was done with him and everything that had to do with him. _I'm getting him out of my life once and for all,_ Trini thought. _He's not going to push me around anymore._ "What I do with my private life is none of your business." Khoa opened his mouth to protest but Trini cut him off, stepping up into his face. "There's nothing you can say about it, Khoa. You can keep pretending that everything's okay and that this marriage is going to happen but it's _not._ I'm not going to marry you and you're _not_ going to hurt me again."

Khoa gritted his teeth, his eyes flashing. In a moment, he lifted his hand, moving it as quick as a snake to smack Trini on the cheek but she blocked his hand away from her. Shifting her gaze, Trini looked up and back across the street, hoping to find someone out. But there was no one there. Even looking through the windows of the restaurant was difficult with all of the Vietnamese posters and other decorations that festooned the glass.

If it meant she couldn't see anyone, then they couldn't see them and she'd finally, _finally_ be able to fight back against him. It was against everything Trini every knew and believed in. But if there as anyone who deserved a right hook to the face it was Khoa. Trini was a pacifist but she also knew when it was the right time to fight.

Khoa's eyes narrowed and she quickly lashed back with her own hand, managing a solid smack against his head that also managed to catch his ear. Trini's been in enough competitions and sparring fights to know being hit in the ear was one of the most painful spots you could be hit about your head. The other being in the neck, potentially winding the other person.

If Khoa was surprised by the hit—and he had staggered off to the side for a moment—it was only for a second. Next thing Trini knew, the two were working had to strike each other, using their martial arts training to get to each other. Anyone that watched them would've thought it was some sort of a sidewalk show with how easily they managed to block each other's hits and recover to strike again.

Trini managed a few solid hits on Khoa that made him stumble back and shake out his head. But it also seemed to make him angrier. And when he was angry, he was strong. Khoa managed to knock Trini onto her back, one knee balancing him on the ground, the other pressing painfully into her stomach, his hands against her neck.

As the seconds passed, he pressed tighter onto her throat, making her choke and gasp for air. Trini brought her hands up and clawed at Khoa's, trying to push them away. Her eyes looked directly into his face and saw nothing but pure evil on Khoa's eyes as he glared back at her.

Finally, he lifted a hand and punched her hard in the eye. She could feel it swelling almost immediately. "I wish you wouldn't make me do this," he hissed before letting go and getting to his feet. Trini coughed, rolling onto her side as she fought for breath.

All the while Khoa brushed off his clothes and casually went back into the restaurant.

She could only imagine how he was going to explain things away and make himself look good as ever.

* * *

Trini let out a long breath, resting her forehead in her hand. She chewed on the eraser tip of her pencil, trying to make sense of the math problems sitting in front of her but her mind wasn't concentrating. That wasn't going to be good with a test the next period. And it certainly wasn't helping that her friends were talking so much. They were so happy and knowing their lives weren't in turmoil was actually really starting to piss her off, especially when it now seemed like there was nothing she could do to stop what was happening to her.

She fought back against Khoa and having been able to kick any monster or putties ass time and time again, how was she unable to beat him? The feeling of his hands around her throat continued to haunt her. Even as she sat with her friends she could feel Khoa's hands slowly creeping their way around her neck, starting to push down, tighter and tighter as the seconds passed.

"Trini?" Kimberly's voice startled her.

"What?" Trini snapped back.

Her best friend's eyes widened in surprise, then hurt as she said, "I was just wondering if you had the answer to question 5," she said slowly.

"No, I haven't figured it out yet!" Actually, she hadn't figured out _any_ of them yet and didn't care. Trini reached up a hand and rubbed her forehead, wincing as she moved over her black eye. She'd managed to cover it well enough with her make up but it still hurt. He'd really roughed her up and she still felt her throat burning when she swallowed. Even when she breathed it took a little more effort than anything else.

Her friends were silent at her outburst. Billy and Zack exchanged glances while Kimberly ducked her head, chewing her lower lip. Tommy reached over and rubbed her back. Avalon leaned back in her seat and studied Trini closely while Jason, who sat directly next to her, reached out to placed his hand on her shoulder. Trini leaned out of the way. She didn't want to be touched.

"Trini, is everything okay?" Jason asked.

"Why wouldn't they be?" Trini tried to keep the exasperation out of her voice but failed.

"Well, you're not acting like yourself," Jason said. He shifted sideways in his chair and looked over her. Trini did her best not to look back at him no matter how much she wanted to be lost in his brown eyes, to feel that sense of relief and relaxation she felt with him. But she couldn't, or else he'd seen the pain and fear in hers. "All today you've been…different?"

"I don't think I've ever heard you so quiet in class either," Billy added. He tapped his fingertips against the table. "Ms. Appleby called on you a few times and you didn't answer her."

"Yeah, and normally you're as much of an egg-head as Billy over here," Zack joked. Trini glared at him and his jovial smile immediately faded, making him sink in his chair. His eyebrows came together as he studied her face. "Seriously, Trini, what's going on?"

"Nothing," Trini mumbled. She dropped her hands to her lap and hunched forward over the table. Maybe if her hair covered her face they would stop bothering her so much. _You should be happy they care,_ Trini reminded herself. _Your parents don't. They didn't even ask why you were so quiet when you got back into the restaurant. They didn't even notice your black eye. Or they didn't care…_

"Sunny," Avalon said, immediately grabbing her attention. It was all she had to say. Maybe it was the tone of her voice when she said it, the seriousness. That she wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer. The orange ranger licked her lips and said, "Mate, you know if there's anything going on you can talk to us, yeah? There's nothing that we won't help you with if we can."

"Yeah." Kimberly reached out and grasped Trini's hands in hers. "We're your friends. You can tell us."

No. She couldn't. Trini pushed back her seat and gathered her things together while her friends looked at her in dismay. "I have to go," she murmured.

Jason stood up and grasped Trini's wrist. "Trini, at least let us—"

"Let go!" Trini snapped. She pulled her hand away from Jason's grasp and glared at him. She ignored the look of extreme hurt on Jason's face as he dropped his hand to his side. "I don't need your help!" She stepped around Jason and hefted her backpack up her shoulders to walk out of the library.

"Let her go, mate," Trini heard Avalon say. "If she's that mad, you better fucking let her be mad. Wait until she cools down before figuring things out."

At least one of her friends understood.

Trini went to the room that held the Peer Counseling meetings she worked with, finding Ian already sitting in the room, finishing up some homework. Surprised, she walked over to him. "Ian, hi," she greeted the freshman. "I didn't know we had a meeting today. It must've slipped my mind."

Ian looked up at her with hollow eyes. "We don't," he said. "I just didn't want to eat in the lunchroom." Trini then noticed the balled up paper bag next to him. "I didn't want to get picked on by Bulk and Skull and those others guys…"

Trini nodded in agreement. He'd been picked on pretty much ever since he arrived at the school earlier that year. He had no friends and consistently came to talk to her during the peer counseling, even if she was the one that did most of the talking.

"Do you mind if I join you?" She asked.

Ian shrugged and Trini pulled out a chair, sitting with them. They spent the rest of the period in the room sitting quietly. It was exactly what Trini needed, no questions and time to think about what she was going to do. If she was going to do anything at all.

* * *

After school, Trini teleported to the Command Center. Not only because it'd be one of the last places her friends would look for her, but because it was quieter than anywhere else. Plus, having Zordon and Alpha working on her weapons and detailing her power levels, it was a good way for her to keep her mind off things.

Bailey, Avalon's little sister and the purple ranger, was working in the lab as soon as Trini arrived and greeted her with a bright smile and a "Hey Trini, how ya going?"

"Hi Bailey," Trini said, suddenly feeling very calm with the young girl's innocent smile. If she knew anything about what Trini was going through—the Yellow ranger wouldn't be surprised if Avalon had said anything to her—she didn't show it. "What's up? I thought you'd be hanging out with Fred or something." She smiled, seeing the blush that came to Bailey's cheeks. Had she blushed like that whenever Jason was mentioned?

"He had to go to a dentist appointment so I just came here after school," Bailey replied. She nodded over to Alpha, who held a scanner in his hand, waving it over one of her blasters. "We're looking at the power output of our weapons. Our last fight brought some damage to the suits and we thought it'd be a good idea to check them out before going again."

"Is it too much damage?" Trini asked.

"I reckon not, but we'll never know unless we look."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Heaps."

And Trini went along with everything Alpha and Bailey suggested she do to test her morpher, her suit, her blaster, her Power Daggers, and her zord. There _had_ been significant damage to all but not enough that would keep her out of commission. And it was enough that she was able to keep her mind off things, all until Zordon finally spoke.

Actually, Trini had forgotten he was there until his booming voice caught her attention, "I sense some great anxiety with you, Trini," he said. "You haven't been up to your typical sense of personality."

"I've…I've had a lot of going on lately," Trini said. "It's nothing."

"Are you sure, Trini?" Alpha asked, walking over. He leaned this way and that, peering at her. "We're here to talk if you want."

Trini felt herself bristle once more. What was it with everyone wanting to talk? How much was it going to take for them to understand she didn't want to talk, she didn't want to people to worry about her, and she didn't want to have to constantly think about it.

"I'm fine," Trini said.

Bailey peered at the older girl with a curious head-tilt. "You know, when people say 'I'm fine', it usually means they're not, yeah?" Trini shifted her gaze away. "We don't want to pressure you into anything, mate, but there has been proof that expelling negativity and uncertainties has really assisted in amity to whomever is afflicted."

Trini gave a sad smile. Billy used to be the only one they knew that did 'techno-speak' but had slowly started to grow out of it. Bailey, on the other hand, had a smooth transition with the two, usually using her dollar words while in the Command Center and speaking much clearer when at school or around her peers. Avalon explained it as a sense of self-preservation, Bailey could really only be herself when she was around the rangers, after having moved to Angel Grove by themselves, their parents back in Australia, she hadn't wanted to alienate herself any more than she had to.

"Yes, Trini, we are here to help," Alpha agreed. "It's the least we can do as you and the others have fought to save the city time after time."

"I find a great deal of stress is afflicting you," Zordon added.

Trini shook her head. It was sweet but, she could handle it. And she'd said as much, turning back to work on their weapons and zords. The conversation topic was dropped until she was getting ready to leave. Grabbing her things again, Trini listened as Alpha and Bailey went over the conclusions of their findings that day.

"I haven't been able to connect the power source back into the blaster," Bailey said, placing her hand on her hip. "This increase in power that we gave it as well as trying to repair its housing seems to be making it more difficult to find the correct power output."

"Ay yi yi yi yi. We'll have to set it up with more points to direct the power current," Alpha said, gently waving his hands. "Don't worry, Bailey, we'll figure it out."

Trini teleported from the Command Center with a weak wave and landed by the police station. She held her breath, looking over the front of the building. It wasn't that she hadn't thought of going to the police before, she'd thought of it a few times. But hearing what Alpha had said, more points to direct a power current…it was strange but she understood how it would work through her problem. The more people she talked about what was going on with, the less power Khoa had over her, the less pain she had to feel.

So, with a deep breath, she walked into the police station and asked to report a crime to an officer. Captain Stone to be specific. He guided her into his office and sat down across from her as she explained everything that had been going on; how she'd met up with Khoa after years away, how he started off by being a nice guy, then slowly started to show his other side, how she'd been beaten up by him, how he verbally threatened her, everything. When she was finished, she twisted her hands in her lap, waiting for Captain Stone to say something. When he did, it was something she didn't want to hear.

"So?" She asked. "What's going to happen now?"

Captain Stone set his pen aside with a sigh. "We'll take down what you've said and…if anything else comes up, you come back and we'll add it to the file."

Trini frowned. "I don't understand," she murmured. "I…you're not going to do anything."

"Well, with what you've told us, there's enough to make a case—"

"—But there's not enough to arrest him?" Trini's jaw dropped. How? How could this be happening? She was doing what she was always told to do? To trust the system. To tell what was going on. To get some help. Here she was asking for help and no one was helping her. "I don't understand?"

"Everything that you've told us…it's not enough go off of. You said he's attacked you a few weeks ago. Without any bruising it's only a matter of he said, she said. You say you think he's following you, but how do we know that he hadn't already planned to go to the fair? Your families are close and because of that, it's expected he'd be around."

Trini's jaw dropped. He didn't believe her.

"Now, I'm not saying that something can't be done," Captain Stone said quickly, holding up his hands. He'd seen the distraught expression on her face. "If more things happens we can put a restraining order on him. And if things escalate even further, if there are witnesses, if he threatens your life completely then we can do something. But we can't stop someone who is to be around your family." He reached into the pocket of his shirt and pulled out a business card. "Call me directly if there's anything else you remember or would like to tell me. I can always be reached."

"Thank you." Numbly, Trini took the card and stood up. She made it to the door before Captain Stone stopped her.

"Trini?" He said, studying her closely. "Take care of yourself, okay?"

Trini nodded back and left the police station, clutching the business card in her hand. Once outside, Trini slowly lowered herself to the steps outside the building, staring out across the street.

She did what she was supposed to do. She tried to reason with Khoa, told him to stop, fought back, and then went to the police. But no one believed her. There was nothing she could do anymore.

 _They think you're a liar,_ Trini thought, feeling her throat tighten, a lump form, and tears come to her eyes. _They think you're a liar and they're not going to do anything to help you._

She was completely and utterly powerless.

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, I bet this is starting to get frustrating for everyone, right? But at least the cracks are starting to form and her friends are figuring out what's going on. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I'll update again soon.

 **~Av**


	12. Chapter 12

Jason was a patient boy. But there was a point that his patience could be reached and broken. And it was starting to reach its breaking point. Trini was acting differently and he wished he knew what it was that was making her change. She used to be so sweet and calm and docile and now she snapped at nearly anyone that spoke to her, didn't participate in class, and was even crueler to Bulk and Skull than usual.

Most of the time she would say something as small as, "Don't you have somewhere else to be, Bulk?" With a sense of irritation.

Now, whenever Bulk and Skull flirted with or tormented her and her friends, Trini's eyes would narrow into slits and she'd get into their face. "Don't you have anything better to do?" She'd snap, voice dripping with venom. "Or are your so stupid that you don't realize we don't care about you! Why don't you get a life and leave us the fuck alone!"

That alone made Kimberly gasp and Zack burst out laughing. When was the last time Trini Kwan cursed at anyone? Let alone cursed at all? She was also so calm cool and collected. Now she was practically shaking. "Or are you so pathetic that you don't realize no one likes you?"

Trini had walked away then, leaving Bulk and Skull staring dumbfounded after her. Zack continued to laugh as he followed Trini up the hallway while Avalon quickly said something to Bulk and Skull—Jason had never really understood how she was friend with them—before joining them as well.

"There's something wrong with Trini," Jason said later, having gathered his friends in the library later. He sat on the end of the table, passing a football back and forth between his hands. A nervous habit. He needed to let his energy out somehow.

"What was your first clue, mate?" Avalon asked. "That she nearly ripped off Bulk's and Skull's heads? Or that she used the word 'fucking'?" She folded her arms and leaned back in her seat, eyebrows lowering. "Yeah, something's going on with Sunny. I think we all know that by now."

"Well, do you have any ideas on what it could be?" Tommy asked. He ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know very much of what would make Trini so upset." He motioned to Kimberly, who chewed her lower lip. "If anything I thought she would tell you."

"So did I," Kimberly admitted. She wrung her hands together. "I've tried talking to her about it before. I called her last night but she didn't say anything and we talked for hours." She brought hand up to her teeth and bit down on her thumbnail, scraping off the coral nail polish. "Guys, I'm really scared. Trini's never acted like this before."

"It's not like you can force her to say anything," Zack pointed out. "She's always been like that. She lets you know what she wants you to know and keeps quiet about what she _doesn't_." He reached out and patted Jason on the shoulder. "I bet you if we hadn't seen you two, neither of you would've told us you were together." Jason gave him a harsh stare and Zack immediately brought his hand away. "Sorry, man. I was just saying…she hasn't said anything to you?"

Jason shook his head, continuing to toss the football in his hands. He could feel a nagging something in the back of his head. Something that would make all of this so easy to understand. But what was it? It was so obvious, too. Something Trini had said to him…

"Well, the best way to understand someone's change in attitude is to trace it back," Billy pointed out. He motioned to Avalon and said, "Our influence on Ava has shown a distinct change in her personality and temperament since meeting her."

Avalon smirked. "Am I a dog?" She asked.

Billy smiled at her. "You have a pretty bad bark, but I wouldn't go so far as to classify you as a dog." He bobbed his head back and forth. "A chihuahua, maybe…" he added, giving a direct poke at her short stature, making her elbow him in the side as they laughed.

Jason pinched his nose. He was starting to get a headache. And his friends joking around wasn't helping. Tommy quickly noticed Jason's pose and said, "Hey, guys, let's stick to the plan, okay?" Jason lifted his chin in thanks and Tommy nodded back. "When did Trini start to act differently?"

"I didn't notice anything until recently," Kimberly said. "Well, except the last time we were studying for our test and she was getting mad when I asked her whether or not she had figured out an answer to a problem."

"No, it's started before then," Jason murmured. He shook his head and pushed himself away from the table. Turning around, he pressed the football to the table, pushing his weight into it. "She's been acting…kind of skittish."

"Pretty cagey," Tommy agreed. "Almost like she's afraid of something."

"Afraid of what, though?" Zack asked. "She's gone into monster fights with no problems and _those_ are the scariest things we've ever had to deal with." He placed a hand to his chest. "Other than Ms. Appleby's tests and homework, I mean."

"Fear is subjective, though," Avalon reminded him. "Just as there are some people who are afraid of snakes there are others how are afraid of butterflies." She shrugged, then her eyes narrowed. "I did notice when we were at the cultural festival that she was looking over her shoulder every few seconds. Like she was waiting for someone or something to pop out at her."

"I think all of us are that jumpy," Kimberly said. "I mean, we have monsters coming to fight us every day. And there's always something new."

Jason lowered his head and shook it again. He could hear it in Kimberly's voice, knew her well enough to understand what she was trying to do. She desperately wanted whatever was going on with Trini to be a monster. An easy fix. An easy explanation. Anything other than someone else or something else that could be causing her so much pain. Especially because they were a team. They were supposed to work together and rely on each other to get through things, like they always have. Seeing her break off now…

"No, no it's something else." Jason stood up and rested a hand over his mouth. "It _has_ to be."

"Well, Bay told me that time that Trini helped her and Alpha in the Command Center she seemed to be really preoccupied with something," Avalon said. She lowered her back to the floor and leaned forward, resting her arms on the table. Jason glanced over as she did that, the tattoos marking the insides of her wrist catching his attention. A 'V'—an initiation of the Vipers on the right wrist, and a lightning bolt, a symbol of their ranger team, on the left. So permanent.

So…territorial.

Jason's eyebrows came together. Something struck him just then. The permanence of a tattoo. Similar to making a commitment to something or someone. A binding contract to the ink that would be left on your skin for the rest of your life. If you had been forced into it, talked into it…

"Trini's modification of behavior has been going on for a while," Billy said. He pushed a piece of paper forward that he had been scribbling on. The rangers all leaned forward to look it over. "Taking in all of the instance we've noticed, I worked backwards to pinpoint a starting point. So far we've noticed her yelling at Bulk and Skull, snapping at us, worrying about who may or may not be following her, not participating in class…" he looked up and nodded towards Jason. "And she's been fine with you?"

Jason felt himself grow a little uncomfortable. He was a private person and never wanted to talk much about his relationship with Trini. There wasn't anything they'd really gone through yet for him to ask someone else—namely Tommy, for advice. She didn't seem to be so weird around him when they were alone. Actually, she really relaxed when she was around him. No wonder he hadn't really seen everything pile up.

"Yeah," he grudgingly admitted. How was he supposed to be there to help her when he didn't know what he was helping her from?

"Then from my deductions, the only thing I can see that'd make sense as to Trini's turn in attitude," Billy tapped the top of the sheet of paper where one word was written. _Khoa._ "She announced that she has to get married."

As soon as Billy finished speaking, everything shot through Jason's head like a rocket. Of course! Trini was visibly upset with the idea of having to marry someone she didn't love and didn't know. They'd spoken about it enough when he drove her to school. Then she announced it to the rest of the their friends and it cemented for him, how it was a real thing and she wasn't, in fact, joking. There were little things since then. Whenever he would move to touch her she'd move away. When she was alone she constantly looked over her shoulder.

When he met Khoa there was tension between them. When they sparred, it was like Khoa was literally trying to knock his head off. Everything after that, the marriage, the commitment. Trini's not wanting to do it, Khoa's insistence…

He was doing something to her.

He knew it.

Jason picked up his football and squeezed it in his hands, seconds before turning and throwing it as hard as he could. His friends jumped and Kimberly shrieked, bringing her hands up to cover her mouth when the football smacked the back window so hard it left a crack. Jason grabbed his backpack and stormed out of the library all without saying another word to his friends. If he stopped to even talk about it, he'd lose his nerve.

He needed to see Khoa.

* * *

Jason stood on the front porch of the Kwan household, gently bouncing back and forth on his heels. He had too much energy to spare. Nervous energy. Honestly, he wasn't quite sure what he would do the moment he got his hands on Khoa. But he needed to talk and he needed to do it _now._ When Jason heard footsteps coming to the door he stopped bouncing and clasped his hands together behind his back.

He had to keep up appearances.

Jason flashed that charming, boy-next-door smile he'd been told time and time again was his best asset and waited for the door to open. "Hi, Mrs. Kwan, I don't mean to barge in on you like this. But I was wondering if you could tell me where I could find Khoa."

Mrs. Kwan looked up at Jason with suspicion. "You're one of Trini's friends," she said. As if she didn't know him. Jason was a little offended. He and Trini had been friends for a long time, since they were very young. What was it about now that was making her look at him with so much suspicion. Khoa, of course. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in school?"

She demanded the questions with such ferocity and rapid-fire that it made Jason blink and back away. It was like he was looking at Goldar, who only wanted to beat Jason with as much ease as possible. But Jason wasn't going to let this be easy for her.

"I have a free period and Khoa and I agreed to meet to talk about some martial arts stuff, do you have an idea if where he is? He hasn't come to meet me." How easy it was for the lie to roll off his tongue. He greatly disliked lying and deceit of any kind, even when having to do it to protect his ranger status. But when it came in handy…

Mrs. Kwan crossed her arms and continued to look Jason up and down. "Jason, I know you and Trini are really close friends. And I know you've been friends for a long time. But there's someone else in Trini's life now, someone who is going to be in it for the rest of her life and I think it's time for you to take a step back." Jason pressed his lips together. "I know you have feelings for my daughter—"

"—Then you should know that I want nothing but the best for her," Jason interrupted. "And you'd know that Khoa isn't the best for her. I don't know what he's doing exactly. But he's doing something to her."

Mrs. Kwan immediately glared at Jason. He didn't blame her. He was basically insulting her. But he was telling the truth. If she continued to push for Trini and Khoa to get married, to be that close to each other, then she didn't know how much danger she was putting her own daughter in.

"Jason, it's time for you to leave."

"You don't even know, do you? Trini's been acting different. I know you know it. She's not the same person since you keep pushing this marriage on her. Don't do this to her."

Mrs. Kwan held up her hand and closed the door in his face. Jason turned on his heel and went back to his car. He sat in the driver's seat for a long moment, trying to collect himself. Trying to figure out what to do next. First thing's first, he drove away so Mrs. Kwan wouldn't have an excuse to call the police on him. Then he thought about going to the library to figure out the school Khoa could be going to but decided against it.

He used up a free period to go but couldn't justify skipping any of his other classes. _You should've planned this better,_ he thought, driving back to school. _Instead of being impulsive. You have to be more together_ he scolded himself. His martial arts training had worked to keep him calm in many situations and in one moment he allowed himself to lose control.

He had only just gotten himself back together, pulling his car into the parking lot of Angel Grove High when it was broken again. As luck would have it, he pulled into the parking lot at the same time a car was leaving, nearly slamming into him. Jason stomped on the brakes, a loud squealing filling the air. Those that were sitting on the front steps and the front lawn of the school craned their necks to see what was going on. Jason looked up at the driver in the other car and immediately saw red, realizing it was Khoa was looking back at him.

Before he knew it, Jason was out of the car and went over to Khoa's driver side, throwing the door open "Get out," he demanded.

Khoa looked back at him in confusion. "I didn't hit your car, did I?"

"Get out!" Jason repeated.

"If there's any damage, I can pay for it. I thought I had stopped in time." He slowly unfolded himself from the car, making a show to take his keys from the ignition and close the door behind him. Khoa's face screwed up when he saw their cars weren't touching. "There's not a—"

"Forget that," Jason interrupted. He waited for Khoa to face him before he said between his teeth, "What did you do to Trini?"

Khoa's eyebrows rose. "I'm sorry?"

"You're going to be if you lie to me," Jason snapped. "What did you do to Trini? I know you did something to her. She hasn't been acting like herself since you got here."

Now Khoa's features relaxed and he folded his arms. "What makes you think I've done something to Trini?"

"She's not acting like herself," Jason re-iterated, taking a breath to stay as calm as possible. "And it didn't start until after she met you." He clenched his hands into fists so hard his nails cut into the skin. He could feel his hands shaking, could feel himself slowly losing control. "So I'm only going to ask you one more time, man. What have you been doing to her."

Khoa let out a short breath and shook his head. Much like a dismayed teacher would. "Look, Jason, I get you're mad. You have a thing for Trini. That's obvious." Khoa continued to eye him. "As obvious as it is that you've been dating her."

Jason's eyes narrowed. How had he known that?

"Oh please," Khoa snorted. His face twisted up in disgust. "Do you really think no one knows how you look at each other? How you act around each other? Everyone at the cultural festival saw you kissing her like no one else around. Kissing someone who has a fiancé." His eyebrow quirked upward and the disgust turned to a smug smile. "How does it feel to know you're breaking up a marriage?"

"You're _not_ married," Jason insisted.

"Not yet."

"Not _ever_. She doesn't want you."

Khoa slowly nodded, licked his lips. "I can live with that." Startled, Jason took a step back. That wasn't what he'd expected. He thought Khoa would've admitted his feelings for Trini, too. That he was into the idea of marrying her because it was good for their family and because he wanted to be with her. Not that he didn't have feelings for her at all. "The thing I'm not sure you understand, Jason, is that you can always make someone understand what's best for them. And what's best for her and our future is if she marries me." He smirked, starting to turn away. "It's just a shame I had to beat it into her."

Jason saw red.

And with the ferocity of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, he pulled back his fist and punched Khoa in the face.

* * *

 **A/N:** Aww, Jason defending Trini's honor. Of course all of her friends care, too. But it's obvious they care in different ways and I can really see Jason doing something like that when his buttons are pushed far enough. I hope you guys liked this chapter. Not much left back to the story.

 **~Av**


	13. Chapter 13

"You stupid bitch!"

Trini cried out as Khoa's foot connected with her stomach. She rolled onto her side and curled up in a ball, trying to protect herself the best she could. It was the only thing she could do in moments like that. He was too strong, and it wasn't for her lack of trying. Trini could fight when she needed to and was evenly matched—if not a little better—than Jason on a good day when they were sparring. But there was something to be said about biology, Khoa was stronger than her and that was that.

The moment he came to her that day, finding her in the Youth Center—of which she had no idea how he knew she was there—he surprised her. She sat at the Youth Center, waiting for Jason. Better yet, waiting for _news_ about Jason. She had heard rumors from around that he'd been suspended for the rest of the day. And for what? Fighting. He'd never fought anyone in his life that wasn't _supposed_ to fight. She went to ask her friends and they were as baffled as she was, but she sensed there was something going on with them.

They kept looking at her strangely. As if her head was about to start spinning around or something. Even when Kimberly asked if she wanted to go to the mall with her and Avalon that day to go shopping, Trini could tell there was something loaded about the question. Normally Kimberly didn't ask, she told Trini they were going to go shopping. She'd skip up to her friend, looping her arm through the crook of Trini's elbow, and go on and on about some sort of sale that she just _had_ to go to. And Trini would go along with her, always enjoying spending time with her best friend. Just as much as Trini's doing different activities in the community she asked for Kim's help with. It was sort of expected. They never had to ask.

But Kimberly had asked and it made Trini so wary she said she was going to get some practice done at the Youth Center instead.

Imagine her surprise when she felt a hand clamp down on her shoulder, making her jump and let out a yelp so loud that Ernie looked her way. Turning away from the coverage of the most recent power ranger save of Angel Grove to look at her questioningly.

"I'm sorry," Trini apologized, glancing at Khoa while speaking to Ernie. Could he hear her voice shaking? "His hand was just cold."

"No problem, Trini," Ernie replied. "Just let me know if you're going to do that again. You nearly gave me a heart attack."

Trini smiled before Khoa tightened his grasp on her shoulder. Trini muffled a whimper of pain as his fingers painfully dug into her skin, practically dragging her to the men's locker room. He looked around for a moment before turning to face her completely. Trini couldn't help but gasp.

His face was a mess. Nothing short of a mess. His hair, which was normally as perfectly coiffed as his good boy impression, was in disarray. He had a black eye, bruising around his jaw, a split lip, and from the way his shoulders hunched forward, Trini could tell he was suffering some sort of pain to his chest and stomach. He'd been beaten up pretty badly, but not enough so that the glare on his face was lessened by any degree. There was still an angry fire burning within him, flickering in his eyes that made Trini immediately know she was in trouble.

Khoa hadn't said anything when he started to beat her up. That was the scariest part. That he was so angry he went right into beating her up, not bothering to waste his words on her. He shoved her against the lockers behind her and started to land hard punches and slaps to her. He was smart not to hit her in the face and only focused on her chest and stomach. Easy to hide. She tried to fight back. At first. Tried to hold him at bay. He overpowered her easily, his anger spurning her on. Then he had her on the ground and continued to wail on her, all the while ranting and raving.

"You stupid bitch! You're running everything. You're a slut who can't keep their legs closed. I'm trying to do something to help our families and you're making me out to be a fool! Do you know how angry that makes me?"

Over and over again.

Trini wasn't sure how long he continued to beat her. Her mind wandered, taking her to a safe place that she could mentally check out of. And as she lay, curled up on the dirty, grimy locker room floor, she willed herself not to pass out. Willed herself to stay awake and keep going. To not cry. To not give him the satisfaction of what he wanted. To see her break.

She wasn't going to break.

But she was getting damn close.

* * *

Jason pressed a bag of ice against his hand, wincing, before wrapping a towel around it. How many times had he gotten into actual fights? He could probably only count it on one hand. Every other fight had been a sanctioned one with rules and guidelines or was a monster fight. Things he could easily justify.

Part of him was ashamed for what he had done to Khao, allowing his temper to get the best of him. But he couldn't stand the smug way Khoa smiled and smirked at him, as if he knew there was nothing Jason could do to stop him. Khoa hadn't truly admitted to everything, Jason knew that. But the simple way he had said, " _It's too bad I had to beat it into her,"_ was a simple implication. The moment Jason got that clarification, the one thing that would've made Trini do a 180 in personality and happiness was that he was beating her in some way.

 _Hurting_ her in some way.

And that pissed him off more than anything in life. The feeling scared him, honestly. He hadn't felt anything so intensely before. Even sitting in his bedroom, icing the split skin of his knuckles made him shake with rage. There was only so much he could hold back, to keep calm through his training of self. At some point he knew it'd break, he just wished it was from Rita or Zedd, the guys he was _supposed_ to defeat, not a human. Not someone without any powers.

Not someone who was as much of a monster as the _real_ monsters.

Jason heard the doorbell ring but didn't move to get it. His parents would answer and if anything, it was for them anyway. A school official or something. They weren't happy to see him they got back from work—it was a strange sight, he typically was out until late afternoon—just to find out he was suspended for the day from fighting and that he may be suspended longer. He was surprised when he heard his mother call that Trini was there to see him.

His heart leapt into his throat and he became nervous. In a good and bad way. Trini made him nervous in a good way. He liked being able to see her every day, was a little scared of how nervous she made him but also looked forward to it. It was strange, he was so confident in a lot of area of his life but having a girlfriend and doing boyfriend-girlfriend things was hard. Were they _even_ boyfriend-girlfriend? Did holding her hand and kissing her a few times mean they were in a relationship? All he wanted to do was make her smile and see her smile.

It certainly was _not_ what he got when Trini walked into his room that day. As a matter of fact, she looked partially angry and partially scared. That was never a good combination. Trini angry in any capacity wasn't a good thing.

 _I don't understand,_ Jason thought, watching her close the door behind her. _Why would she be so mad at me?_ This was the part he _didn't_ like about being nervous around her. Where he wasn't sure what was going on. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see you," Trini said. She leaned back against the door, keeping her hands shoved into the pockets of her yellow jacket. She didn't come closer. "I wanted to talk." Her eyes shifted to the side. "I heard you got suspended."

"Yeah," Jason replied. He nodded, leaning forward to rest his hands between his knees. "I got into a fight."

"So I've heard. It's all over the school." A sarcastic laugh escaped Trini's throat. "The great Jason Lee Scott got into a fight with someone. And from what I've heard, you really beat him up, too." Jason's lips twitched. Something about the way she was speaking was weird. It didn't' sound like her at all. "Why'd you do it Jase?"

Jason lifted an eyebrow. "You're acting like I just went out and beat someone up."

"Didn't you?"

"I would never do that."

"Right."

Now Jason was sure she knew something he didn't. "Trini, what's your problem?"

"I don't have a problem, Jason."

Jason pressed his lips together. "I don't believe that." He stood up and took a step towards her, eyebrows coming together when Trini pressed herself further away from him. "Trini, what's going on?" He asked. Trini looked back at him. "We're all worried about you. We were talking it he library—"

"—You were talking about me?" Trini demanded, snapping her head towards him. Jason took a step back at that. She hadn't punched him but she certainly had a bite like a true Saber-Tooth Tiger when the time came. "I knew everyone was acting weird with me today. Do you always just wait until I'm gone to talk about me behind my back?"

"Trini, we're worried about you."

"You don't need to. I can handle things myself." Trini reached up a hand and ran it through her hair. Then she closed her eyes and let out a long, calming breath. He could see her shoulders slump as she relaxed. He'd seen her do that many times before. She was moving into a meditative state so not to lose her temper and to keep centered. It was always impressive to him how she could do it, something he often went to her for advice on. "It's…I just…"

"Trini, sit down please?" Jason asked, moving to sit on the floor. She shook her head. "I just want to talk."

"I can't stay," Trini said. "I've already been here too long. He…my mom and dad will be wondering where I am."

"Tree, please?"

"I can't."

Trini started to respond then broke off, looking away. She started to pull at her hair, moving it into a ponytail to ply with the ends, as she always did when she was deep in thought. But stopped halfway, wincing. Jason looked closer at her then. She wasn't holding herself the way she always did. Up straight, as if nothing could touch her. It was like leaning against the door, was the only thing keeping her from collapsing.

"Why did you beat up Khoa?" Trini asked instead.

Jason's fist tightened. He could feel the skin of his knuckles split open even further. "How did you know it was Khoa?" He stared at her. "Did you see him today?"

Trini's eyes shifted. "I see him every day, Jason. You know that."

"He was at school," Jason said slowly. "I went to your house to see if I could find him, during my free period. I went back to school and he was leaving it. Like…like he was checking up on you or something. Why wouldn't he have been at school?" Then everything fell into place for him. "He said he knew we were dating. And he was really mad. Because he's always mad at you, Trini. Isn't he? He's always looking for some reason to hit you? We figured it out. We know he's hurting you."

"He's not hurting me," Trini weakly denied.

"Why else would I have done this, Trini? If he wasn't hurting you? I don't fight people because I feel like it." Jason got off the floor in a surge of energy, nervous energy. Angry energy. "I _know_ there's something going on. You can deny it as much as you want but we're all here for you. You know that. You _know_ that. But this…fucking _asshole_ comes into your life and suddenly everything changes. It doesn't make sense unless he's controlling you in some way."

Trini shook her head.

Jason continued toward her and grasped her shoulders. "Trini, I can help you. My dad…we can get something worked out. All you have to do is go to the police and—"

A barking laugh escaped Trini's lips. "Like the police are going to help."

"You've gone to the police before?"

Fear washed over Trini's face then. Jason saw it the moment it came. She messed up and he knew it. There was no coming back from it. "I have to go." She started to pull away. "Let go of me, Jason."

"Trini, just tell me what's going on. I promise, I just want to help you."

" _Let go_!" Trini pulled away from him, the sleeve of her jacket sliding off her arm. And Jason stared at the bruise on her shoulder, peeking out from her sleeveless blouse. The ugly black and blue splotch marring her skin. Before Trini could stop him, Jason unzipped the rest of her jacket and his eyes widened. She'd worn a crop top to school that day, he remembered being unable to look away from her flat stomach that morning, but now the muscle definition she'd worked hard on was covered in a massive bruise.

Blue, black, purple, red, green, yellow splattered across her skin. He could tell from the way she was breathing she had to have had either a severely bruised rib or a broken one. Trini started to shake and she buried her face in her hands before sobbing. Jason reached out and grasped Trini's shoulders. This time, she didn't pull away. This time she allowed him to pull her against his shoulder and wrap his arms around her.

His heart hurt. He was angry. He wanted nothing more than to kill Khoa, but knew it wasn't what'd work, wasn't what would help Trini in the long run. If Jason could've beaten him that badly and Khoa turned around to beat up Trini, who knew what else he would do.

And so Jason stood, hugging Trini as she sobbed into his shoulder. He waited until her sobs subsided before he gently pushed her back, lifting her chin. "Trini, I promise you, I _promise_ you that I'm going to keep you safe. He's not going to hurt you again." Jason pressed a kiss to her lips, a pleading one, then to her forehead and hugged her again. "I promise. We just need to talk to my mom and dad and your parents."

Trini shook her head. "My mom and dad won't listen," she said. "I don't want to…I don't want to…" and she started to cry again, holding onto Jason as tightly as she could. He wrapped his arms around her, a protective shield. He wasn't going to let go until she said he could, and even then he still probably wouldn't.

He wouldn't let go again. Not when Khoa would take the opportunity to do something worse.

There was a knock on his door and Jason's mother, Melissa, poked her head in. "Jason, sweetie? Is everything okay?" She looked at her son and his friend and concern shifted over her face. She wasn't concerned over her teenage son in a room alone with a girl. There was something else going on. She could tell by the look on his face when he turned to her. Tranquil fury and the determination he was well known for.

"Mom, there's something we need to tell you," Jason said. He continued to rub Trini's back as she sniffled quietly. "I know it'll sound weird, but it's the truth." Then he swallowed hard. "Trini's staying here tonight," he said firmly. "She's not going home. Not until everything's been figured out."

"Okay," Melissa said quietly.

Jason nodded back and lowered his chin to rest atop Trini's head. Trini continued to hold him tighter, tighter as the seconds passed. Her sobs subsided but she continued to hold on. It was just as well.

He wasn't letting go.

* * *

 **A/N:** A little bit of a lover's spat but at least all of them are now on the same page. But it was still so sweet, right? But what'll happen with Khoa now? Nothing good, I can tell you that.

Do I still have Trini and Jason in character in terms of their voice/characterization? In situations like this, it's always a bit difficult to figure out how the characters would react in a human way but in a way that still sounds like them. Please, let me know.

 **~Av**


	14. Chapter 14

The day Khoa was arrested was a roller coaster of emotions.

It took a while for Trini to finally admit what was going on. To finally say the words 'Khoa's been hitting me'. Stalking. Following. Threatening. It took forever for her to say it. Mrs. Scott had listened to Jason when he said Trini was going to be staying at their house that night she confronted him about messing things up for her. She didn't say anything to him then. Didn't outright admit it.

Even when Jason tried to tell his parents that something was going on, Mr. Scott said that while the information was good to know, they couldn't do anything about it without an express admission from Trini. Not to mention having to think about testifying against Khoa when the time came. He warned her about that as well as the response from her parents and his parents. Trini decided then, no, she wasn't going to say anything.

And Jason couldn't understand it. This guy was hurting her, terrorizing her, turning one of the strongest girls he knew—who didn't shed a tear when she broke her arm after falling out of the tree when she was six—to the most tears he'd ever seen her. She was scared and nothing would keep her from being scared. Not even the powers she'd had to protect the city. What was the point of having powers when you couldn't use the to defend yourself? Not that she would anyway, Jason realized. Trini cared so much more about other people that she could've been dying and continued to fight against monsters and whatever was threatening everyone else.

So as they went to school over the next couple of days, once Jason's suspension had been lifted, they didn't talk about it. People watched them as they went by. Rumors had already started to spread that Jason has fought the other guy because he was flirting with Trini and was now pegging him as a bad guy.

"Jason would never do that," Kimberly said to her cheerleader friends as they grouped around her locker to question her. "He's not the jealous type." Well, she wasn't quite sure on that point. He _had_ been a little standoffish when she was interested in Richie. "He would never fight someone for something as small as that. If he got suspended for fighting, it was for a really good reason. One that's none of your business."

"Oh come on, Kim, we know you know more than that."

"I don't," Kimberly said honestly. "And if I did, I wouldn't tell you. Because it's none of our business."

Even on the football team Tommy, Zack, and Billy had to do damage control. "Come on guys, this is Jason we're talking about. He's the quarterback, leader of the team. If you trust him on the field, what's stopping you from trusting him _off_ the field?" Tommy asked.

"The probability of Jason doing this out of malice is slight," Billy added. "He has a reason and we need to respect his privacy of that reason."

"Dudes, chill out," Zack advocated.

Even at Avalon's volleyball practice, when the team were running spiking drills she was asked something every time she moved up in line. "Did he really beat someone up? Why was he suspended? Is he going to be expelled?"

"No," Avalon said sharply once she reached the net. She jumped up to get the serve that headed towards her and spiked it to the ground. Then she glared at the team and added, "Now shut up about it. It's doing my blood head in."

Jason was thankful for the way his friends were standing up for him. But he couldn't help but notice how they continued to walk on egg-shells around Trini. Unsure of what to do. He felt the same way. Trini had never been anything more than strong and now that things were going on with her, they didn't know how to help her. Even Bulk and Skull turned around and practically sprinted away when they saw her coming down the hall. And Jason watched her every time it happened, watched how upset she looked, her shoulders slumping further and further in despair.

It hung over their heads, getting the truth out. Especially since Trini continued to face everything at home day after day, pretending nothing was going on. Jason waited to see if there were more bruises on her, asked Kimberly and Avalon to pay attention as they were changing for gym class or if they were going shopping. Asked Billy to take note of any changes when she and Billy studied together as they were to do nearly every day. They were a team as rangers and not as rangers and they had to be there for each other.

That's why, when Trini arrived at his house unannounced, Jason set his books aside and looked at her curiously. The hadn't made any plans to hang out. Let alone to date. She hadn't wanted to be alone with him lately, he noticed. And as much as he understood why, it hurt. He wanted to hold her, to kiss her, to let her know everything was going to be okay. _Maybe it's me,_ he couldn't help but think. Maybe she didn't want to be alone with him in case he tried to pressure her to talk? He didn't know and the not knowing made things harder.

"Hi," Trini said quietly as she slipped into his room. She pointed over her shoulder. "Your mom let me in."

"It's cool," Jason said. He sat up against his headboard and moved his books out of the way so she had space to sit down. Trini shuffled over and sat on the edge of his bed. He couldn't help but notice she was wearing another sweatshirt, the sleeves falling down her arms. It seemed to be her uniform now, anything that'd cover up any bruises. Anger flashed through him and he took a deep breath to calm himself. No need in scaring her away. "What's up?"

Trini was silent for a long moment. Then she pushed her sleeves back from her arms. Jason stared at the black, blue, purple, green, and yellow bruises that lined her arms. He could see some of them were in the shape of fingerprint and others looked to be of blunt objects that had hit her. And Jason continued to breathe deeply to keep from letting his anger get the best of him. As it was, he wanted nothing more than to find Khoa and rip his head off. Let alone go to her parents and demand to know why they weren't doing more to protect their daughter.

But Jason stayed silent, listening as Trini cried softly. Then, it was like a flip was switched and the tears stopped. A hard expression came to her face and she looked at Jason with such ferocity that he truly knew then why she was deemed with the power of the Sabertooth Tiger.

"He's been hitting me," she said. "Stalking me. Threatening me. Doing anything he can to intimidate me into being quiet about what he's been doing." She clenched her hands into fists. "I don't want to be quite anymore."

Jason smiled.

* * *

Trini walked into her house with Jason by her side. She tightly held onto his hand as they approached the living room, hearing the voices of not only her parents speaking in rapid Vietnamese, but also of the Nguyens. She wasn't sure if Khoa was there or not, but didn't care anymore. With Jason by her side she'd be okay.

Trini cleared her throat as they stepped into the living room. She greeted her parents in Vietnamese before switching to English it say, "I have something to tell you."

Mrs. Kwan softly apologized to the Nguyens before saying to Trini in a hiss, "What's going on?" in Vietnamese then was forced to speak in English when Trini didn't response, answering the question. "What are you doing? With him?" Her eyes leveled on their hands. "Holding his hand like that."

Mr. Nguyen lifted his chin. "How can you disrespect your husband like that?"

Jason started to answer, but Trini squeezed his hand to make him fall silent. "He isn't my husband," Trini said calmly. Her voice was calm but her body betrayed her. She was starting to shake. "He isn't my fiancé. I'm not going to marry him."

Startled cries happened at numerous volumes from her parents and the Nguyens. Mrs. Nguyen stood up and pointed directly at Trini, spouting of in rapid Vietnamese, swinging her hand left and right. Trini quickly understood it to be called loose, a disgrace to her family, wasting their time…enough insults that it would've brought anyone to tears. But Trini was done crying and wanted everything to stop. She sensed Khoa coming up behind her before he even spoke but the way he asked innocently, "What's going on?" made her blood boil.

Trini turned around and glared at him so fiercely he stepped away from her. His eyes shifted back and forth and he asked his parents a question before moving to join them. Trini watched his every move before pleading to her parents. "Mom, dad, I _never_ wanted this, to get married. This is something you saw to only benefit you and never asked my opinion on it. I agreed to talk to Khoa because he was an old friend and I wanted to reconnect. But I never wanted to marry him."

"Trini," Mr. Kwan said slowly. His eyes shifted from Trini's face to Jason's. "Talk to me, honey, what's going on."

Trini frowned. It was the first time in a while she'd herd her father call her 'honey'. He usually used another form of endearment, but it was typically reserved for serious conversations. He must've heard it in her voice or sensed something was going on with his daughter. He also had been shocked when she said she wasn't going to marry Khoa so…

 _Is he really on my side?_ Trini thought.

Trini took in a deep breath and looked over at Jason, he nodded encouragingly. Khoa frowned at this and spat, "Are you really going to listen to what she has to say?"

"Shut up, Khoa!" Jason snapped at him.

Khoa glared back. "Tough talk to the person that beat me up." He gestured towards Trini. "This guy is completely crazy and you're willing to turn your back on your family to—"

"What do you know about family?" Trini spat. "If I'm supposed to be your wife, you wouldn't be hurting me like this!"

"I've never hurt you." Trini's eyebrows rose and she pulled up the sleeves of her sweatshirt to show off the bruises that lined her arms. Reached up and wiped away the makeup that covered the last of the bruise around her black-eye. Lifting the bottom of her shirt to show off the bruises along her stomach. Khoa barely glanced at it and said, "You've been disgracing your family running around with him. I only reminded you who was to be in charge of this family."

Silence stretched through the room. Trini lowered her arms to her sides and looked at her parents. They continued to stare at the bruises that lined her arms but didn't say anything. Khoa continued to look at her smugly, his parents standing by his side, slightly in front of him. Trini realized then, that it didn't matter what Khoa did. His parents were always going to enable him. They were always going to let him do whatever he wanted.

It was then that police sirens could be heard coming closer to the house. Khoa's bravado immediately fell and he gritted his teeth. "What's that?" He demanded. "You called the police?"

"I didn't call anyone," Trini said calmly. "I just told my friends, people who love me, what's going on." She tilted her head towards Jason. "It's not my fault that his father just so happens to be a lawyer. Who is going to represent me on the charges that are ultimately going to be put against you." She lifted her arms. "I say there's a lot of evidence."

"I'll press charges back," Khoa declared. He nodded towards Jason. "He assaulted me."

"And unlike you, I'm willing to take my share of responsibility for what's gone on," Jason said. He dropped Trini's hand and folded his arms. Khoa took a step back, noticing how his biceps bulged beneath his red t-shirt, making him seem even more imposing than he had before. "I will willingly tell the police my part in it."

The sirens continued to get louder and louder, approaching the house. Trini could hear their engines creeping to a stop nearby. The red and blue flashes filled the living room. Then Khoa let out a bloodcurdling yell and everything happened at once. Raving, he surged towards Trini but Jason got to him first. Not hitting him, but holding him back enough so that Khoa didn't get any hits on him. Then the Kwans and Nguyen's were shouting at each other so loud and fast that Trini could barely understand what was being said and what was going on.

Khoa finally managed to get free of Jason's grasp, knocking him against the wall, and moved over to Trini, knocking her to the ground and grabbed her around the neck. Trini looked up into his crazed face, wondering if she truly was going to die at that moment. His eyes were blank the rest of his face filled with a snarling rage while he continued to squeeze her neck.

It wasn't until the police stormed in that he was knocked away and handcuffed by two arresting officers. The others came inside to take stock of the situation before everyone was separated to be questioned. Trini was led outside to be assessed by EMTs and it was then she saw her friends lined up outside. Whether Jason or Zordon had called them, Trini didn't know for sure. It didn't matter, she was glad they were there.

Trini hurried down the front steps and wrapped her arms around Kimberly in a tight hug. She saw Tommy's eyes widen at the bruises on her arms before his jaw set in anger. He turned away, placing his hands on his hips as he shook his head. Then Zack placed his hand on Tommy's shoulder and turned him back. His anger wasn't important right now, Trini was. Tommy nodded back and he, Zack, Billy, and Avalon joined Trini in their group hug.

It felt nice, but not good enough.

She needed to feel safe and knew Jason was the only one to do that for her. He'd been there for her the entire time, no questions asked and wanting nothing more than to make sure she was okay. They were her family. No matter if there was anyone who would threaten her, their city, their livelihood, they were her family and they'd always be there for each other.

Trini was then taken from her friends to be looked at by the EMTs. They took her vitals and took pictures of the bruises on her arms and stomach, reminding her if there was anything she wanted to talk about she could tell them. That they were there for her and were going to make sure she'd get the utmost care needed. She flinched at first, seeing their hands come near her. But the way they gently touched her, starting to wrap and dress her wounds made tears come back to her eyes.

How long had it been since she'd been touched nicely without some sort of threat coming along behind it? Too long.

"Hey, Sunny?"

Trini looked over as Avalon approached, her hands shoved into the pockets of her leather jacket. Trini watched her. She and Avalon were friends, but they weren't that close. Since arriving in Angel Grove, the orange ranger was very careful to be closed off about numerous parts of her life. But Trini had managed to break down some of her walls by her sheer positive determination. Enough to earn a nickname for herself that she and the other rangers noted was Avalon's signifier of showing they were her friend.

"Hi," Trini said quietly. She managed a small smile. The first one in a while. She looked up when Avalon pressed a card into her hand. Trini looked over the name, Haven Hills. "What's this?"

"It's a domestic abuse shelter," Avalon explained. She put her hands back in her pockets. "They give resources to those that have been harmed in their relationships with their significant others. You don't have to stay there, but they're really good people to talk to if you can't think of anyone else. They really listen and give their ideas on it rather than trying to tell you what to do."

There was a shout and the two looked over as Khoa was taken from the house, arms behind his back and wrists locked together in handcuffs. His parents walked out behind him, stone faced and with long, powerful strides. Trini didn't see her parents or Jason, they were probably still being questioned.

"Thanks, Av," Trini finally said.

"You're welcome." Avalon walked away and Jason soon replaced her, leaning against the side of the ambulance.

"They want to be sure I didn't sustain any damage when I was fighting with Khoa," Jason explained to her confused look. He glanced at a nearby police car. "I might not be with you at the hospital, though. These guys really want to talk to me."

"That's alright," Trini replied. "I'm just glad you're here."

"Me too." Jason leaned over and pressed a kiss to her temple. Trini smiled and ducked her head. It was like the quote she'd heard before. _"The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned."_

She knew then.

Around Jason, she was home.

* * *

Khoa was arrested and charged with multiple counts of assault, battery, stalking, trespassing and other small crimes. Depending on his plea, it would take time until it was determined whether or not they'd have to go to trial and Trini would testify. Mr. Scott let her know, in no uncertain terms, it was looking like they would need to go to court.

"If Khoa can't see that he did anything wrong, he's going to plead not guilty," Mr. Scott had explained. "And his parents already posted his bail. I just want you to be prepared."

Trini nodded.

So far a restraining order was put in place, but there was much more coming on the horizon for her. But she could handle it. She knew she could. With all her friends and family around her she could. Surprisingly, she even had her parents on her side.

What she didn't know was that after Khoa had attacked her and she was led out of the house, Mr. Kwan then turned to attack Mr. Nguyen. The entire time he grabbed the other man he screamed about how his son could hurt his daughter, how he could disrespect his house and his family before he and his wife broke down into tears. Tears over how they had failed their daughter for their own gain, not noticing any of the signs of what had been going on and listening when she said she didn't want to marry Khoa.

And while at the hospital he held her tight and apologized over and over while her mother held her hands between hers, alternating between rubbing and patting them, nodding silently with each word Mr. Kwan said to apologize. Trini forgave them. No questions asked. They were her parents, they loved her, if they knew what was happening they would've stopped it.

She truly did believe them.

"Trini, are you ready to go?"

She heard her father call from downstairs. Trini called back and quickly finished pulling a brush through her hair before looking at her reflection. Her smiling, happy reflection. Had it really been a month since Khoa was arrested? Since her nightmare ended? It seemed like it was just yesterday she was meeting Khoa again for the first time, ignoring the warnings that flashed through the back of her mind. Now here she was, excited for each new day that was coming.

She pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail with a big yellow scrunchie. Then she picked up her books and put it in her backpack before heading down to the kitchen where her father stood by with the car keys in hand.

"You have everything?" He asked.

"Yes," Trini replied. "You know you and mom don't have to drive me to school. I can take the bus or…" She trailed off. It was a conversation they had every morning since Khoa's arrest. They wanted to be sure she was safe on the way to school, that he wasn't waiting for her anywhere.

"I wouldn't hear of it." Mr. Kwan stepped forward and pressed a kiss to her daughter's forehead. It's special time I get to spend with my daughter around her numerous activities."

"I have to stay busy, dad." If she didn't her mind wandered to think about Khoa too much. She got anxiety, started to panic, she started to have nightmares…she couldn't spend too much time thinking. Her meditative skills had certainly improved since then. "If I don't, I go crazy."

"That wouldn't be so different, would it?" Mrs. Kwan teased, handing Trini her lunch. Trini laughed and accepted the hug her mother gave her. She felt her mother squeeze her tightly. She was still apologizing for everything despite Trini already having forgiven her. Honestly, Trini didn't think she'd ever stop apologizing. "Have a good day."

"I will."

Trini followed her father outside and climbed into the passenger seat. She dropped her backpack by her feet and leaned back in her seat, watching as the world moved by her as Mr. Kwan drove to school. Along the way they rode in silence. It was just what she needed. Arriving at school, her father reached out and patted her on the knee. "Have a good day."

"You and mom are starting to sound like broken records," Trini teased.

"It's better than ignoring you, isn't it?" Mr. Kwan said.

Trini frowned. "You didn't ignore me…"

"We ignored you for what we thought was more important to our family. Nothing else. And for entirely selfish reasons." Mr. Kwan reached up and wiped at his eyes. "I know you've forgiven us but I'll never be able to forgive myself for it."

Trini leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek and a hug. Mr. Kwan hugged her back and bid her farewell again. Trini smiled and slipped out of the car, grabbing her bag and slammed the door behind her. She waved to her father before going into the school.

She found her friends at their lockers and hurried over. Slipping under Jason's arm, she looped her arm around his waist. Jason looked down at her and smiled. "Hey. Where'd you come from?"

"From under your arm," Trini replied. She stepped back and took in his football jersey before looking at the other guys. "You got a game today or did you feel like matching?" She teased.

Jason rolled his eyes while Kimberly and Avalon laughed. "How many times are we going to be asked that? Kim's ask, Bulk's asked…"

"You've seen Bulk?" Trini asked, looking over her shoulder. "Or Skull? I really wanted to apologize to them."

"I think you'd have to scrape them off the ceiling to do that," Zack said with a laugh. "They jump nearly every time you come around. Actually, yeah, go find them. I'd love to see that happen." He leaned back and forth, looking around to see if he could find the bullies.

"Leave them alone," Kimberly said.

"I'm sorry, did _you_ just defend Bulk and Skull?" Tommy asked, arm around her shoulders.

"Have you ever had Trini mad at you? Trust me, you don't want it. If they're on her list, they're in some trouble." Kimberly laughed and gently swatted Trini on the arm. "So, are you coming to the football game? Or do you have anything to do after school?"

"If you do, we understand," Billy added. "There's probably a lot of things you need to do to prepare yourself."

Trini tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I don't have anything to do within the next couple of weeks," she explained. "But if there's something that comes up, they'll let me know as soon as possible." AKA, the restraining order had been working and the only correspondence she had with Khoa was through their lawyers. "So, count me in to be at the football game."

"Good, because I need my good luck charm," Jason said.

Avalon leaned against the lockers, folding her arms. "That'd be sweet if it wasn't about to make me puke," she teased. "God, now I have to worry about you two instead of just being annoyed by Barbie and Ken over there." She motioned to Tommy and Kimberly, laughing to herself. "I don't know, I think it might be better."

"Thanks for that stamp of approval, Av," Jason said.

Trini laughed along with her friends. She looked up as the bell rang and the hallway exploded into people hurrying to get to their classes. Trini turned to her locker to get her stuff while her friends quickly scattered off to their classes, calling out that they'd meet up later. Trini looked up when she noticed Jason waiting next to her.

"I think I can handle getting my books, Jase," Trini said to him.

"I know, I just wanted to walk you to class," Jason said. His lips pulled back into a smile. "Just have to make sure you're not going to try to find Bulk and Skull yourself and do something that may get you in trouble."

"I wouldn't do that," Trini defended herself. "I really do feel bad for what I said to them."

"Yeah, but you have to admit, it's kind of funny."

"Jase."

"I'm just saying for all of the bullying they've put us through it's not that bad." Jason held up his hands. "But I do agree that you may need to apologize to them. And preferably before our football game because I kind of want to win."

Trini closed her locker and turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "So your football game is more important than me?"

Jason squeezed an eye shut in thought. "I don't think I said that."

"Sounded like it."

"Well, if that's the case, I'm sorry." Jason lowered his voice. "Nothing is more important to me than you." A shy smile came to his face as he lowered his gaze. It made Trini giggle. How funny, he was confident in so many places and areas of his life but when it came to expressing his feelings, not so much.

It was really cute.

"I don't need you to laugh at me," Jason said.

"Okay, then how about this instead." Trini leaned in and gave him a long kiss. Long enough that the warning bell rang, letting them know they were going to be late. Jason said as much and Trini shook her head. "I don't care."

She could handle anything with Jason by her side.

She knew that now.

She was strong.

She was home.

* * *

 **THE END**

* * *

 **A/N:** Huh, I actually managed to get everything out in this chapter rather than two. I guess htat's what happens when you have an outline and certain scenes end up shorter than others. Anyway, that's the end!

I'm so glad you guys have enjoyed it so much. Jason/Trini wasn't a pairing I wrote a lot about before but doing it in _Powerless_ and now in here, I've grown to really appreciate it. Trini I never put much attention on before but she's a really complex character that deserves more recognition sometimes. Thank you fall of the support while writing this story, it has continued to motivate me as it's gone on.

Honestly, if I had to change one thing, and it's something I'll be sure of to do in the rest of the stories, is that I wish the other rangers were in it a bit more. Since it's a story that focused on Trini, Khoa, and Jason, I think I did a good job with that, but I wish I balanced that and the others a bit more. As stated in this chapter, their friendship with each other (as a team and as friends) is important and I wish I showed it a bit more.

But I still love this story and am glad I was able to write it. So I have a question for you all. For the next _Powerless_ story to read, would you rather read Kim's centered one or another group one like the first story? This time around it has to do with drunk driving if that helps.

Don't forget to check out my drabble about Bulk called _Bulked Up_. First time I'm writing about him so that's exciting. And my other story _Fear Itself_ where Rita and Zedd fight the rangers based on their fears.

Thank you all so much.

 **~Av**


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